LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

Theological    Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.  J. 


"^  "^     — ^        /^ 


BX  9178  .B6  T96  1873 
Boardman,  Henry  A.  1808- 

1880. 
Two  sermons  preached  on  the 


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A      DONATION- 

FEOM 

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Keceived 


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TWO  SERMONS: 


PREACHED    ON    THE 


l^iu^ntg-Jifth  and  lorti^tl]  ^nnitJ^rsari^; 


AUTHOR'S   PASTORATE. 


HENRY  A.   BOARDMAN,   D.  D. 

Tetith  Presbyterian  C/iiirck,  Philadelphia. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
INQUIRER  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINT,  304  CHESTNUT  STREET. 

1873. 


PREFATORY    NOTE. 


The  Conirnittee  having  this  publication  in  chai-ge, 
have  instructed  me  that  the  Congregation  wish  to  pre- 
serve, in  cojinection  zvith  the  Anniversary  Sermons,  cer- 
tain papers  which  they  deem  essential  to  the  History  of 
the  Te7ith  Church.  The  papers  so  designated,  and  which 
are  7^efein^ed  to  in  one  or  both  of  the  Ser77ions,  are  accord- 
ingly printed  in  the  Appendix. 

The  Committee  further  hifomn  me  that  the  intei^est 
expressed  by  my  people  in  the  extract  given  in  the  second 
discourse,  from  my  ''Inaugural  Sei-mon','  [May  loth, 
i8jj,)  was  so  marked,  as  to  justify  tJiem  in  inpcratively 
requiring  that  mo7'e  of  that  se7'77i07i  be  placed  ivitJii7i  their 
reach.     So77ie  further  quotatio7is  a7^e  the7'cfo7'e  added. 

A  few  paragraphs,  07i  various  topics,  077iittcd  in  the 
delivery,  a7'e  i7icluded  i7i  the  ser77io7i  of  the  Fortieth 
A7iniversary. 

Philadelphia,  Nov.  13//^,  iSyj. 


SERMON   I. 


"So  WILL  I  COMPASS  THINE  ALTAR,  O  LORD  :  THAT  I  MAY 
PUBLISH     WITH     THE     VOICE     OF     THANKSGIVING,    AND    TELL    OF  ALL 

Thy  WONDROUS  works." — Psalms  xxvi.   6,  7. 

As  I  appear  before  you  this  morning,  my  mind 
goes  back  irresistibly  to  the  scene  presented  in  this 
house  on  a  Friday  evening,  just  twenty-five  years 
ago,*  The  Presbytery  to  which  the  church  belonged 
was  convened  here,  and  with  it  a  crowded  auditory, 
who  had  come  together,  as  might  be,  to  indulge  a 
rational  curiosity,  or  to  testify  their  Christian  sym- 
pathy in  the  solemnities  of  that  hour.  In  such  a  pre- 
sence, after  an  impressive  sermon  by  my  venerable 
predecessor  in  this  pulpit,  I  knelt  in  yonder  aisle 
and  was  ordained  to  the  ministry,  "by  the  laying  on 
of  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery;"  after  which,  I  was 
installed  as  the  Pastor  of  this  congregation.  The 
aged  preacher,  yielding  to  accumulated  bodily  in- 
firmities, has  long  since  ceased  from  all  active  min- 
istrations ;  and    the  voice   which  charged  you  to  be 

*  November  8,  1833. 


6  Twenty -Fifth  Anniversary. 

faithful  to  your  trust,  is  silent  under  the  pressure  of 
a  living  death.  Of  the  hands  which  were  first  lifted 
in  response  to  the  prescribed  demand,  "Do  you  pro- 
fess your  readiness  to  take  this  man  to  be  your  min- 
ister?" and  then,  as  the  benediction  closed,  were 
stretched  forth  to  give  me  a  generous  and  hearty 
welcome,  many  are  paralyzed  in  the  grave,  and  still 
more  are  dispersed  over  the  broad  earth.  Only  here 
and  there,  as  I  look  around  my  congregation,  do  I 
recognize  one  who  participated  in  the  services  of  that 
evening,  and  went  home  to  offer  at  the  household 
altar  a  prayer  for  the  youthful  Pastor  who  had  dared^ 
possibly  unsent  of  God,  to  assume  a  charge  so  dis- 
proportionate to  his  years  and  his  powers. 

What  my  own  emotions  were  on  that  evening  I 
could  not  well  express.  It  is,  under  any  circum- 
stances, a  transaction  of  deep  solemnity  for  a  man 
to  be  ordained  to  the  sacred  ministry.  But  for  a 
young  man  to  exchange  the  training  and  tutelage  of 
the  Theological  Seminary  for  the  official  care  and 
oversight  of  a  metropolitan  church — to  enter,  wholly 
inexperienced,  and  with  scant  resources  of  every 
kind,  upon  a  Pastorate  involving  labors  and  responsi- 
bilities like  this — you  may  well  suppose  that  such  a 
transaction  would  stir  his  nature  to  its  lowest  depths 


Twenty -Fifth  Anniversary.  7 

and  make  him  feel,  with  the  apostle,  "  Who  is  suffi- 
cient for  these  things  ?" 

You  have  a  right  to  know  how  I  came  to  take  upon 
myself  a  burden  to  which  I  was  so  unequal.  I  can- 
not relate  it  in  a  sentence  or  two.  Nor  can  I  do 
justice  to  the  present  Anniversary  without  saying 
much  more  about  myself  than  is  agreeable  to  my 
feelings.  There  are  occasions,  however,  when  a 
Pastor  may  be  allowed  to  refer  to  his  own  experience 
as  illustrating  the  mystery  of  God's  providence.  You  r 
kindness  will  excuse  me  if,  after  spending  a  quarter 
of  a  century  with  you,  I  devote  an  hour  to  the  recital 
of  some  personal  reminiscences  not  altogether  alien 
from  your  own  history  as  a  congregation. 

Let  me  premise,  for  the  information  of  families  who 
have  but  recently  united  with  us,  a  very  concise 
statement  respecting  the  origin  of  the  church.  The 
merit  of  proposing  the  erection  of  a  church  on  this 
spot,  is  due  to  the  late  Furman  Leaming.  Mr. 
Learning  associated  with  himself  five  other  gentlemen, 
viz.,  Messrs.  John  Stille,  of  the  Second  Church, 
George  Ralston  and  James  Kerr,  of  the  First  Church, 
and  William  Brown  and  Solomon  Allen,  of  the 
Sixth  Church.  Through  the  liberality  and  energy  of 
these  six  Christian  men,  the  work  was  accomplished. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  with  appropriate  ceremonies 


8  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary. 

by  the  late  venerable  Ashbel  Green,  D.  D.,  on  the 
8th  day  of  August,  1828.  On  the  24th  of  May,  follow- 
ing, the  first  sermon  was  preached  in  the  Lecture- 
room  by  the  Rev.  Derrick  C.  Lansing,  D.  D.  The 
building  was  completed  on  the  7th  of  December, 
1829,  and  opened  for  worship  on  the  ensuing  Sabbath, 
On  the  i2th  of  March,  1829,  Messrs.  Furman 
Leaming,  John  Stille,  and  James  Kerr  were  elected 
Ruling  Elders.  On  the  nth  of  May,  of  the  same 
year,  the  church  was  received  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  On  the  9th  of  November 
following,  the  Rev.  Thomas  McAuley,  D.  D.,  of  New 
York,  was  elected  Pastor  of  the  Church,  and  duly 
installed  on  the  1 7th  of  December.  After  remaining 
here  three  years,  during  which  period  his  labors  were 
greatly  blessed,  Dr.  McAuley  resigned  the  Pastorate 
(in  Jan.,  1833)  and  returned  to  the  city  of  New  York. 
In  the  Spring  of  the  preceding  year  (1832)  Dr. 
McAuley  had  seen  fit  to  unite  with  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  ecclesiastical  re- 
lations of  the  church  were  transferred  to  that  body. 
This  Presbytery  had  been  formed  by  the  General 
Assembly  on  the  principle,  not  of  geographical  lines, 
but  of  "  elective  affinity,"  with  a  view  of  allaying  the 
controversy,  already  commenced  here,  which  after- 
wards culminated  in  the  disruption  of  the  Presbyterian 


Tzvcnty-FiftJi  Anniversary.  9 

Church.  The  congregation  remained  without  a 
Pastor  until  the  autumn  of  that  year — having,  at  the 
time,  a  communion  roll  of  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  members. 

Indulge  me  now  with  some  personal  recollections, 
which  I  should  not  think  of  uttering  except  in  the 
presence,  if  I  may  so  speak,  of  my  own  household  ; 
and  some  of  which  will  be  new  even  to  you. 

Having  become  a  student  of  theology  at  Princeton 
in  the  fall  of  1830,  I  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel 
by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  in  April,  1833. 
Returning  immediately  to  the  Seminary,  it  so 
happened  that,  under  the  system  of  rotation  then 
observed  at  Princeton,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  venerable 
Dr.  Alexander  to  preach  in  the  village  church  on  the 
ensuing  Sabbath  evening.  Knowing  that  I  had  come 
back  with  my  License  in  my  pocket,  nothing  would 
answer  but  that  I  must  take  his  place.  You  may 
well  imagine  how  such  a  proposal  would  strike  me, 
and  how  earnestly  I  tried  to  escape  from  the  service. 
But  he  was  inexorable.  I  must  go  with  him  to  the 
pulpit,  and  preach  my  first  sermon  to  a  congregation 
assembled  to  hear  Dr.  Alexander.  It  was  not  a 
pleasant  ordeal.  But  as  I  look  over  the  sermon  (i 
Cor.  iii.  18,  "  Let  no  man  deceive  himself,")  preached 
then  for  the  first  and  last  time,  I  have  the  satisfaction 


10  Twenty- Fifth  Amiivei'sary. 

of  knowing  that,  greatly  defective  as  it  is  in  many 
respects,  it  is  replete  with  Gospel  truth,  and  addressed 
to  men's  consciences  with  as  much  point  and  solemn- 
ity as  any  discourse  I  have  written  since. 

During  the  remaining  four  or  five  months  of  my 
stay  at  Princeton  (the  course  then  closed  in  Septem- 
ber), I  had  the  usual  experience  of  Seminary  students 
in  their  Senior  year,  as  regards  proposals  for  a  settle- 
ment. But  of  the  various  invitations  sent  to  me  from 
different  parts  of  the  church,  there  were  only  one  or 
two  which  occasioned  me  any  serious  perplexity.  I 
was  urgently  pressed  by  the  Pastor  of  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  important  Reformed  Dutch  Churches 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  become  his  colleague. 
This  I  declined.  And  then,  in  the  face  of  my  per- 
sonal remonstrances,  a  call  was  sent  me  from  one  of 
our  own  churches  in  that  city.  The  circumstances 
attending  this  call  were  so  marked,  that  the  congre- 
gation felt  themselves  at  liberty  to  urge  the  accept- 
ance of  it  with  great  persistency ;  and  it  cost  me 
several  weeks  of  anxiety,  before  I  could  finally  de- 
cline it. 

One  thing  only  I  had  regarded  as  settled  in  my 
own  mind,  respecting  my  future  location  :  At  an 
early  period  in  my  theological  studies,  I  had  resolved, 
even  should  the  opportunity  present  itself,  not  to  go 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary.  11 

from  the  Seminary  to  a  large  city.  I  preferred  a 
rural  congregation  as  a  matter  of  taste  and  feeling ; 
and  my  deliberate  judgment  had  ratified  the  prefer- 
ence. But  we  are  all  led  in  paths  which  we  know  not. 
I  had  my  plans,  and  God  had  his  purposes.  In  the 
end,  I  did  the  only  thing  which  I  had  made  up  my 
mind,  in  respect  to  a  settlement,  I  would  not  do. 

The  Session  of  this  church  invited  me  to  supply 
their  vacant  pulpit.  The  first  Sabbath  I  preached 
here  was  July  28,  1833,  The  sermons  were  from 
Luke  vi.  43-45,  and  Isaiah  i.  2,  3.  Three  weeks 
after,  August  18,  I  again  preached  for  them,  from 
Rom.  i.  16,  and  Eccl.  viii.  11.  On  the  2d  of  Septem- 
ber, the  congregation  came  together,  and  with  entire 
unanimity  and  cordiality,  resolved  to  invite  me  to  be- 
come their  Pastor.  Here  was  a  new  and  most  im- 
portant question  to  be  met.  I  referred  it,  after  seek- 
ing wisdom  from  above,  to  our  Professors.  With  one 
voice  they  said  I  ought  to  accept  the  call.  In  the  end, 
I  did  accept  it — not  without  many  misgivings,  but 
satisfied  that  the  pillar  of  cloud  had  moved  in  this 
direction,  and  that  there  was  neither  peace  nor  safety 
except  in  following  it. 

It  was  one  of  the  incidents  of  my  visit  to  the  city 
in  August,  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Green  waited  upon  me, 
and  inquired  whether  I  would  consent  to  entertain  a 


12  Twenty -Fifth  Amiiversary. 

call  from  another  of  our  principal  churches  here, 
which  was  also  vacant.  I  respectfully  declined  the 
overture. 

My  ordination  and  installation  had  been  fixed  for 
the  8th  of  November,  and  so  advertised  in  the  public 
papers.  On  reaching  the  city,  perhaps  the  very  day 
before  this,  I  found  myself  brought  at  once  and  un- 
avoidably into  that  burning  polemical  atmosphere 
which  continued  to  enwrap  our  churches  for  several 
years  after.  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  this 
church  was  now  connected  with  the  Second  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia.  This  Presbytery,  as  comprising 
the  New  School  elements  of  our  denomination  here, 
was  obnoxious  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia ;  and  the 
Synod  had  just  dissolved  it  on  the  eve  of  my  arrival. 
The  Presbytery  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly  ; 
and,  by  the  constitutional  force  of  the  appeal,  its  life 
was  prolonged  until  the  case  could  be  finally  issued. 
But  the  question  was,  '*  Ought  I  to  join  a  Presbytery, 
and  be  ordained  by  it,  which  was  in  this  delicate 
position  ?  "  The  leading  men  of  the  congregation,  its 
founders  even,  were  divided  on  this  point ;  and  some 
of  them  displayed  a  degree  of  feeling  in  discussing  it 
with  me,  amounting  almost  to  acerbity.  This  was 
sufiiciently  embarrassing  within  twenty-four  hours  of 
the  time  publicly  announced  for  the  ordination  ;  and 


Turn (y- Fifth  Ajuiiversary.  13 

the  trouble  was  not  mitigated  by  a  most  unexpected 
visit  from  the  Moderator  of  the  Synod,  the  Pastor  of 
a  country  church,  and  an  entire  stranger  to  me,  who 
sought  me  out  at  my  lodgings  and,  with  many  words, 
endeavored  to  convince  me  that  it  would  be  extremely 
unwise  and  irreg-ular  for  me  to  allow  the  service  to 
go  on.  You  can  readily  imagine  the  state  of  painful 
perplexity  into  which  I  was  thrown  by  these  occur- 
rences. Had  there  been  time  to  hasten  to  Princeton 
for  an  hour,  the  burden  would  have  lost  more  than 
half  its  weight.  But  that  was  impossible,  and  it  was 
not  a  clay  of  telegraphs.  There  was  not  a  single 
Presbyterian  Pastor  in  the  city  to  whom  I  could  look 
for  counsel  with  any  hope  of  obtaining  impartial 
advice.  But  a  gracious  Providence  relieved  me.  On 
my  way  to  the  city,  I  found  on  board  the  boat  that 
man  of  God,  whose  praise  was  in  all  the  churches,  the 
late  Rev.  Dr.  Nevins,  of  Baltimore.  He  was  to 
spend  a  day  here  with  his  friends.  It  occurred  to 
me  that  he  would  be  an  unprejudiced  judge  ;  and  I 
was  sure  he  would  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  my 
situation.  I  went  to  him  as  I  would  go  to  an  elder 
brother,  and  opened  to  him  my  burdened  heart.  He 
entered  into  the  matter  with  a  genial  sympathy,  and 
counselled  me  to  oo  forward.  This  was  enouo^h.  I 
conferred  no  more  with  fiesh  and  blood  ;  and  the  tie 


14  Twenty- Fif til  Anniversary. 

was  formed  which,  by  God's  mercy,  has  now  bound 
me  to  you  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

I  say,  "has  bound  me  to  yotc^  In  one  sense,  this 
language  is  sufficiently  accurate ;  for  churches  retain 
their  identity,  whatever  changes  may  occur  among  the 
individuals  who  compose  them.  But  it  is  one  of  the 
affecting  experiences  of  this  day  that  I  should  find 
myself  surrounded  by  a  congregation  radically  dif- 
ferent from  the  one  which  received  me  on  that 
memorable  evening.  No  one  can  be  aware,  except 
by  giving  special  attention  to  the  subject,  how  constant 
and  potential  is  this  law  of  change  which  controls  the 
destiny  of  congregations  in  large  cities.  It  escapes 
observation,  partly  because  the  process  is  silent  and 
gradual,  and  partly  because  there  are  ordinarily  no 
social  bonds  like  those  which  clasp  the  members  of  a 
rural  church  together,  and  make  the  removal  of  a 
family  an  incident  to  be  known  and  talked  of  through 
the  little  community.  In  our  country,  especially,  these 
mutations  go  on  with  a  certainty  and  rapidity  which 
must  be  unknown  in  most  other  lands.  Nations  are 
like  men  :  in  their  childhood,  fond  of  change  ;  in  their 
old  age,  covetous  of  repose.  A  youthful  nation  like 
ours  cannot  be  at  rest.  Never  content  with  the 
present,  its  eyes  are  roving  abroad  to  see  how  it  may 
better  its  condition.     And  with  our  vast  territory,  and 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary.  15 

the  countless  avenues  open  to  political  ambition,  to 
mechanical  ingenuity,  to  commercial  enterprise,  and 
to  luxurious  self-indulgence,  the  inducements  and 
facilities  for  indulging  this  propensity  are  too  inviting 
to  be  resisted.  Add  to  this,  the  influence  of  taste  and 
preference,  of  misfortune  and  affliction,  and  of  the 
numerous  subordinate  agencies  which  inhere  in  the 
social  compact  and  shape  its  growth,  and  we  shall 
have  an  adequate  explanation  of  the  changes  per- 
petually in  progress  in  our  congregations, 

I  came  in  1833,  as  just  stated,  to  a  church  of  two 
hundred  and  ninety-two  members.  Of  these  there 
are  but  thirty-seven  remaining.  All  the  Elders  who 
constituted  the  Session,  and  their  three  associates  in 
founding  the  church,  are  dead.  Of  the  families  I 
found  here,  there  are  but  two  which  death  has  not 
entered,  and  only  six  in  which  one  or  both  of  the 
heads  have  not  been  removed.  In  so  far  as  can  be 
ascertained,  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  persons  in 
the  communion  of  the  church  have  died  within  the 
period  specified.  The  number  of  deaths  in  the  con- 
gregatio7i  since  January  i,  1841  (there  is  no  record 
beyond  that),  has  been,  of  children,  sixty-eight,  adults, 
one  hundred  and  ninety-five  ;  total,  two  hundred  and 
sixty-three — an  average  annual  mortality  of  fifteen. 

The  number  of  additions  to  the  church  during  this 


16  TTjenty- Fifth  Anniversai-y. 

quarter-century  has  been  one  thousand  and  sixty- 
eio^ht ;  to  wit :  four  hundred  and  ninety-three  by  cer- 
tificate, and  five  hundred  and  sevent}^-five  by  exami- 
nation— an  averag-e  accession  of  eleven  (nearly)  at 
each  of  our  one  hundred  communions.  The  present 
number  of  communicants  in  actual  attendance  is 
about  four  hundred  and  fift)\ 

The  largest  additions  by  examination  have  been, 
in  their  chronological  order,  as  follows  :  In  ?^Iarch, 
1835,  twenty-three;  March.  1838,  thirty-four;  March, 
1840,  twenty-eight ;  ]March.  1 841,  seventeen  ;  March, 
1843.  thirty-one;  June,  1S52,  sixteen;  March,  1855, 
fourteen;  June,  1858,  forty-one.  At  several  of  these 
periods  the  Spirit  of  God  has  been  manifestly  pre- 
sent in  the  congregation,  with  unusual  power.  His 
sacred  influences  have  come  down,  not  as  in  the  fire 
and  the  earthquake,  but  "like  rain  upon  the  mown 
grass,  as  showers  that  water  the  earth."  The  souls 
of  his  people  have  been  refreshed,  and  sinners  have 
been  converted  from  the  error  of  their  ways.  These 
visitations  of  the  Divine  mercy,  as  will  appear  by  the 
statistics  just  recited,  have,  almost  without  exception, 
occurred  in  the  winter  or  spring  of  the  year.  The 
providence  and  grace  of  God  work  in  harmony.  And 
the  result  just  indicated  can  surprise  no  one  who  is 
familiar  with  the  social  and  commercial  life  of  a  crreat 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary.  17 

city,  and  accustomed  to  trace  out  the  religious  ten- 
dencies of  the  annual  dispersion  of  the  inhabitants  in 
the  warm  season. 

But  while  we  are  grateful  for  these  times  of  refresh- 
ing with  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  brighten  our 
path,  let  us  not  overlook  the  important  fact,  that  the 
church  has  grown  rather  by  steady,  gradual  accretion 
than  by  revivals  of  religion.  This  unquestionably  is 
the  established  plan  of  the  Divine  government.  He 
has  his  set  times  to  favor  Zion  ;  and  glorious  times 
they  are.  We  should  never  give  over  praying  for 
them,  until  he  has  established  and  made  Jerusalem  a 
joy  in  the  earth.  But  we  have  no  Scripture  warrant 
for  placing  our  chief  dependence  upon  revivals.  The 
church  has  been  mainly  perpetuated  by  means  of 
faithful  parental  instruction,  and  through  the  stated 
ministrations  of  the  sanctuary.  Where  these  two 
agencies  are  duly  employed,  and  sustained  by  the 
fervent  and  habitual  prayers  of  God's  people,  the 
work  of  conversion  will  be  always  going  on.  And 
it  is  this  constant,  healthy  growth  which  every  church 
should  desire,  and  to  which  every  Christian  is  bound 
to  lend  his  influence. 

The  ordinance  of  Baptism  has  been  administered 
by  the  Pastor  to  five  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
children   and   one   hundred  and   five    adults — in    all, 

o 
O 


18  Tiucnty- Fifth  Anniversary. 

seven  hundred  and  diree  persons.  He  has  solemn- 
ized die  rite  of  marriage  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  times.  His  visits  have  been  from  three  hundred 
to  five  hundred  annually — an  aggregate,  say,  of  ten 
thousand  during  his  ministry. 

I  have  no  data  within  my  reach,  which  would  enable 
me  to  present  even  an  outline  history  of  our  Sunday 
Schools.  But  I  think  I  am  quite  within  bounds  when 
I  express  the  belief,  that  some  eight  thousand  children 
must,  within  the  last  twenty-five  years,  have  been 
brought  under  religious  instruction  in  the  various 
schools  connected  with  this  congregation.  Besides 
the  parent-school,  ths  Sabbath  School  of  a  declining 
church  in  Southwark  was,  many  years  since,  resusci- 
tated by  the  labors  of  some  of  our  members.  A 
corps  of  faithful  teachers  from  here  sustained,  for  a 
term  of  years,  a  flourishing  school  in  the  North 
Western  part  of  the  city,  which  was  relinquished  only 
because  it  was  found  impossible  to  procure  a  Hall  in 
which  it  could  be  continued.  The  first  N^ight-school 
in  our  city  for  the  gratuitous  instruction  of  young 
men  was  established,  it  is  believed,  by  a  few  gentle- 
men of  our  congregation.  This  laudable  example 
was,  after  a  while,  followed  by  our  municipal  authori- 
ties. Night-schools  were,  with  great  advantage  to 
the  city,  engrafted  upon  our   Public  School  system, 


Twenty -Fifth  Anniversary.  19 

and  have  since  been  introduced  into  Boston  and  other 
cities.  And,  to  close  this  series,  you  have  for  sixteen 
years  sustained  that  admirable  Sunday  School  in 
Moyamensing,  which  has,  within  the  last  month,  ex- 
panded into  a  church,  and  received  here,  within  these 
walls,  its  first  Pastor.''' 

No  one  may  presume  to  trace  the  vast  and  intricate 
results  which  must  flow  from  these  various  efforts. 
It  is  matter  of  record,  that  they  have  already,  by 
God's  blessing-,  brought  many  souls  to  Christ ;  and 
that  they  have  exerted  a  wholesome  influence  upon 
some  thousands  of  others.  But  there  is  a  different 
aspect  in  which  the  present  occasion  brings  them 
before  us.  They  indicate  the  character  of  the  church. 
They  show  that,  on  some  limited  scale  at  least, 
Christian  activity  has  been  the  law  of  our  household. 
I  dare  not  say  that  this  has  been  the  paramount  law 
with  us  : — would  that  it  had  been.  But  I  may  and  do 
assert  that,  while  as  a  church  we  have  been  very 
slothful  and  lukewarm,  there  has  always  been  a 
leaven  here  of  the  right  kind — a  body  of  faithful  dis- 
ciples, of  both  sexes,  who  have  never  forgotten  our 
Saviour's  words,  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world ;  " 

*  The  Rev.  Willard  M.  Rice  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  and  installed  as 
Pastor  of  the  "  MoYAMENSiNG  Presbyterian  Church,"  on  Monday,  October 
18,  1858. 


20  Tzuenty-FiftJi  Anniversary. 

"  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  "  "  It  is  better  to  gfive 
than  it  is  to  receive."  They  have  not  been  content, 
Hke  the  arid  desert,  to  drink  in  the  rain  and  the  sun- 
shine of  heaven,  and  make  no  return.  Refreshed 
with  the  bread  of  heaven  and  animated  by  the  love 
of  Christ,  they  have  gone  forth  in  quest  of  the  needy 
and  perishing,  and  gathered  them  into  schools,  and 
taught  them  the  words  of  eternal  life.  In  this  work 
of  benevolence  they  have  not  only  communicated, 
but  received,  benefit.  The  measure  which,  in  their 
noble  philanthropy,  they  meted  out  to  others  has 
been  returned  sevenfold  into  their  own  bosoms.  It 
has  kept  alive  the  fervor  of  their  piety,  and  made 
them  an  example  to  the  rest  of  us ;  and,  so,  they  have 
brought  back  from  their  rude  mission-fields,  sheaves 
of  blessing  which  have  relieved  our  penury  and  helped 
us  in  our  welfare.  Had  they  nothing  to  show  for 
their  exertions  outside  these  walls,  this  church  has 
profited  by  their  labors  beyond  the  power  of  common 
language  to  express.  And  the  lesson  which  a  Pastor 
must  long,  in  such  circumstances,  to  impress  upon 
every  one  of  his  people,  is  that  familiar  but  too  often 
neglected  one,  "Go,  thou,  and  do  likewise," 

It  is  not  essential  that  I  should  speak  in  detail  of 
what  the  church  has  done  for  the  cause  of  Christian 
benevolence.     The  pecuniary  resources  of  the   con- 


Tiooity-FiftJi  Annivcrsai-y.  21 

gregation  have  varied  at  different  times,  as  the  dispo- 
sition certainly  has,  to  devise  Hberal  things  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel.  I  may  be  allowed  to  specify 
two  instances  (the  erection  of  a  new  church  will  be 
noticed  by  and  by),  in  which  your  liberality  displayed 
itself  in  a  somewhat  pre-eminent  way.  The  first  of 
these  was  at  the  semi-centenary  commemoration  of 
1839.  Our  church  then  celebrated  the  Fiftieth  Anni- 
versary of  the  organization  of  the  General  Assembly; 
and  the  funds  collected  on  that  occasion  as  a  thank- 
offering  to  God,  were  applied  to  the  endowment  of 
the  Board  of  Publication.  Your  share  in  that  thank- 
offering  amounted  to  nearly  eight  thousand  dollars  ; 
the  largest  sum  contributed  by  any  church  in  our 
connection.  Again,  when  it  became  necessary  in 
1845  to  complete  the  endowment  of  the  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary — a  work  achieved  by  the  able 
and  disinterested  exertions  of  my  tried  friend  of  more 
than  thirty  years,  who  is  providentially  with  me  to- 
day'^'— you  attested  your  attachment  to  that  revered 
School  of  the  prophets,  and  your  love  for  the  doc- 
trines inculcated  there,  by  a  prompt  and  generous 
offering  of  between  six  and  seven  thousand  dollars, 
exceeding  that  of  any  church  except  one  in  our  body. 
It  is  grateful  to  record  facts  like  these.      But  candor 


The  Rev.  CoKTLANur  \'an  Rensselaek,  D.  D. 


22  Twaity-Fifth  Anniversary. 

may  demand  a  furdier  statement.  We  do  not  always 
respond  in  this  way  even  to  the  most  meritorious  ap- 
peals. Many  who  were  once  ensamples  to  the  con- 
gregation in  this  respect,  have  been  taken  from  us  by 
death  or  otherwise.  It  is  incumbent  upon  those  who 
have  come  in  to  occupy  their  places,  to  see  that  the 
standard  of  liberality  amongst  us  be  not  lowered. 
It  is  a  Divine  apiiorism,  "  He  that  hath  pity  upon  the 
poor  lendeth  unto  the  Lord;  and  that  which  he  hath 
given  will  He  pay  him  again."  It  is  a  remarkable 
expression,  he  '' Icndcth  unto  the  LordT  It  will  be 
well  for  us  to  inquire  into  its  meaning  now  ;  and  to 
ponder  also  those  wonderful  words,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  Let  these  truths 
be  once  enshrined  in  our  hearts,  and  there  need  be 
no  further  solicitude  about  the  tone  of  Chrisdan 
liberality  here. 

There  is  one  other  department  of  labor  which  it 
would  be  inexcusable  to  pass  over,  even  in  this  hasty 
retrospect.  I  mean  the  "  Dorcas  Society''  of  the  con- 
gregation. The  idea  associated  with  this  ancient  and 
honored  name  is  simply  that  of  providing  clothing 
for  a  certain  number  of  poor  women  and  children. 
Your  benevolence  has  taken  a  wider  sweep.  After 
clothing  all  the  needy  at  our  doors,  you  devote  the 


Twenty- Fi fill  An7tiversary .  23 

winter's  cheerful  industry  to  the  families  of  our  faith- 
ful and  often  suffering-  Missionaries  at  the  West:  and 
with  what  signal,  and  I  may  add,  unrivalled  energy 
you  prosecute  this  good  work  may  be  seen  by  the 
following  statistics.  Since  the  origin  of  the  Society 
in  1836,  you  have  provided  for  destitute  children  and 
families  at  home,  ten  thousand  three  hundred  gar- 
ments. The  Society  commenced  working  for  the 
Missionaries  in  1844.  Within  these  fifteen  years, 
you  have  sent  to  these  men  of  God  and  their  families 
eighty-nine  large  boxes,  containing  about  sixteen 
thousand  articles  of  clothine.  The  estimated  value 
of  these  boxes  for  the  last  four  years,  was  six  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  total  number  of  garments  prepared 
for  both  classes  of  objects,  from  the  beginning,  is 
upwards  of  twenty-six  thousand.  I  know  you  will 
say,  "  Give  God  the  glory."  I  do  give  Him  glory. 
But  I  also  "glorify  God  in  youT  I  cannot  repress 
the  pride  and  pleasure  which  I  feel,  in  recalling  the 
munificent  fruits  of  this  enlightened  and  efficient 
labor  on  the  part  of  the  ladies  of  my  congregation. 
I  am  ready  to  say,  "  Many  daughters  have  done 
virtuously,  but  thou  excellest  them  all !  "  Certainly 
if  the  same  admirable  system  which  you  pursue  were 
adopted  in  any  considerable  number  of  the  congrega- 
tions of  our  towns  and  cities,  not  only  would  every 


24  Tzvcnty-FiftJi  Anniversary. 

mission-family  in  our  domestic  field  have  its  wants 
amply  supplied,  but  new  bonds  of  sympathy  and 
prayer  would  link  them  to  the  church  at  large,  and 
greatly  augment  their  capacities  for  doing  good. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  our  colonics.  The  obli- 
gation resting  upon  congregations  which  God  has 
been  pleased  to  prosper,  to  extend  the  means  of 
grace  to  the  destitute  around  them,  and,  whenever 
practicable,  to  establish  new  churches,  would  seem  to 
be  too  obvious  to  require  argument.  It  is,  no  doubt, 
very  pleasant  for  a  people  who  have  a  Pastor  to  their 
Tking,  to  sit  down  and  enjoy  his  ministrations  with- 
out concerning  themselves,  except  by  an  occasional 
contribution,  about  the  wants  of  their  destitute  neigh- 
bors. But  this  is  not  "the  mind  which  was  in  Christ." 
Real  Christianity  is,  like  leaven,  essentially  active, 
diffusive,  and  assimilating.  And,  if  needful,  it  will 
make  sacrifices  sooner  than  forego  the  duty  and\ 
pleasure  of  sharing  its  good  things  with  others.  It 
was  observed  a  moment  or  two  ago,  that  there  had 
always  been  something  of  this  spirit  here.  For  my- 
self, I  may  say,  it  had  been  for  many  years  my  anxious 
wish  that  the  church  should  colonize.  In  the  winter 
of  1846-7,  I  devoted  a  good  deal  of  time  and  atten- 
tion to  a  plan  for  establishing  a  church  on  Logan 
Square.      In  connection  with  two  or  three  gentlemen 


7\ueJity-Fi/fh  Anniversary.  25 

of  my  church,  who  entered  heartily  into  the  scheme, 
I  explored  that  part  of  the  city.  We  selected  a  lot 
of  ground  most  advantageously  situated.  Several 
conferences  were  held  at  my  house  and  elsewhere  ; 
and,  in  the  end,  the  plan  failed  only  because  it  was 
not  met  in  a  spirit  of  corresponding  liberality  by  par- 
ties residing  in  that  vicinity,  and  who  would  have 
been  personally  benefited  by  the  enterprise.  Thus 
Logan  Square  was  lost  to  us.  But  the  idea  was  not 
abandoned. 

On  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  January,  1852,  a  con- 
siderable number  of  gentlemen  belonging  to  the  con- 
gregation, met  by  invitation  at  my  house,  to  consider 
the  subject  of  "  erecting  a  new  church  west  of  Broad 
Street."  At  this  conference,  it  was  ureed  that  our 
church  had  been  overflowing  for  several  years  ;  that  a 
new  church  of  our  order  was  imperatively  needed  in  the 
city  ;  that  without  such  a  church  we  could  not  main- 
tain our  proper  relative  position  among  the  evangeli- 
cal denominations  of  the  city,  nor  should  we  be  doing 
our  part  towards  supplying  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
community;  that  the  signal  harmony  and  prosperity 
we  had  enjoyed  demanded  this  return  at  our  hands, 
as  a  token  of  our  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  ; 
and  that  there  was  every  reason  to  believe  that  a 
strong  colony  from   our   own   congregation,   uniting 


20  Twenty-FiJtJi  Anniversary. 

with  other  famihes  in  the  neitjhborhood  which  mioht 
be  selected,  could,  by  the  favor  of  Providence,  accom- 
plish the  desired  end  without  detriment  to  existing: 
churches,  and  with  larg-e  advantage  to  the  greneral  in- 
terests  of  religion.  I  need  not  rehearse  the  sequel. 
The  West  Spruce  Street  Church  was  erected;  and 
the  church  itself  was  organized  on  the  3d  of  April, 
1856.  Great  praise  is  due  to  the  colony  of  thirty-four 
communicants  and  their  associates,  which  went  out 
from  us  on  that  occasion,  and  especially  to  those  noble 
minded  Christian  men  by  whose  liberality  and  zeal 
this  work  was  accomplished.  The  hundred  thousand 
dollars  they  have  "  lent  to  the  Lord,"  will  come  back 
to  them  and  their  children  with  large  interest.  It  is 
written  in  the  bond,  "  that  which  he  hath  given  will 
He  pay  him  again."  And  heaven  and  earth  shall 
pass  away  before  this  pledge  can  fail. 

Our  second  colony,  that  of  October  iith,  has  but 
just  left  us.  They  have  gone  to  a  different  field,  but 
on  an  errand  consecrated  by  the  Saviour's  own  ex- 
ample— to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor.  Difficul- 
ties they  expect  to  encounter,  but  they  are  not  intimi- 
dated. They  go,  as  they  believe,  at  the  Master's  call ; 
and  this  is  all  the  warrant  they  demand.  They  have 
His  promise,  "  Fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee  ;  be  not 
dismayed,  for  I   am   thy   God."     Putting    their  trust 


.  Tiucnty- Fifth  Anniversary .  27 

here,  they  expect  to  succeed.  And  I  believe,  by- 
God's  blessing,  they  will  succeed. 

You  have  been  instrumental,  then,  in  founding  two 
new  churches.  Of  the  manifold  means  and  methods 
for  doing  good,  none  can  exceed  this.  For  an  evan- 
gelical church  is  God's  own  institution.  It  is  perma- 
nent. It  comprehends  all  other  elements  and  appli- 
ances for  promoting  Christianity.  It  is  a  sun  which 
radiates  light  and  life  in  every  direction  ;  a  fountain 
whose  living-  waters  will  flow  on  forever.  You  have 
done  a  good  work  in  sending-  these  two  half-tribes 
over  Jordan.  Never  forget  that  they  are  still  part 
of  the  household  and,  as  such,  claim  an  interest  in 
your  sympathies  and  prayers. 

As  a  general  rule,  no  church  can  be  considered  as 
fulfilling  its  design,  which  is  not  endeavoring  to 
furnish  some  candidates  for  the  sacred  ministry.  The 
neglect  of  this  duty  on  the  part  of  Christian  parents, 
has  been  one  of  the  prominent  sins  of  the  church  for 
the  last  score  or  two  of  years.  A  better  day  seems 
now  to  be  dawning.  A  throng  of  young  men  have 
suddenly  come  forward,  with  the  humble,  grateful 
cry  upon  their  lips,  "  Lord,  here  am  I :  send  me." 
May  it  prove  the  harbinger  of  a  new  and  blessed  era 
for  the  church. 

It  is  pleasant  to  know,  that  our  own  church  has  not 


28  Tiuenty- Fifth  Anniversary . 

been  entirely  remiss  in  this  matter.  Within  the 
period  embraced  in  this  review,  there  have  been 
fourteen  young  men  connected  with  the  congregation, 
who  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  ministry.  Of 
these,  three  came  to  us  having  this  object  already  in 
view.  Three  who  made  their  profession  of  religion 
here,  relinquished,  perhaps  I  might  say,  brilliant 
prospects  at  the  Bar,  as  several  gave  up  other  pursuits, 
in  order  to  become  ambassadors  for  Christ.  Two, 
who  spent  a  considerable  time  with  us — one  of  them 
brought  hither  as  a  student  of  medicine,  by  a  good 
Providence,  that  he  mio-ht  find  a  Saviour  and  serve 
him  in  the  ministry  of  reconciliation — are  held  in  high 
esteem  by  the  Church  as  learned  and  laborious  foreign 
Missionaries ;  to  whose  names  it  were  ungrateful  not 
to  add  that  of  an  intelligent  and  lovely  Christian 
woman,  of  our  communion,  the  wife  of  one  of  our 
leading  Missionaries  in  China.  This  band  of  ministers 
are  preaching  the  Gospel  with  ability  and  fidelity, 
some  of  them  in  situations  of  orreat  influence  and  re- 
sponsibility.  To  a  Pastor's  heart,  few  things  could 
be  more  comforting  than  the  reflection,  that  God  may 
have  employed  his  feeble  and  unworthy  agency  in 
raising  up  one  and  another  to  hold  forth  the  word  of 
life  to  the  perishing,  after  his  own  lips  shall  have  been 
sealed  in   death.     God   grant   that  our  church   may 


Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary.  20 

abound,  as  it  ought  to  do,  more  and  more  in  this  so 
needful  work.  And  may  His  choicest  blessing  rest 
upon  those  beloved  brethren  who  have  gone  forth 
from  us  to  preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

"  May  they  that  Jesus  whom  they  preach, 
Their  own  Redeemer  see  ; 
And  watch  Thou  daily  o'er  their  souls, 
That  they  may  watch  for  Thee  I  " 

I  have  stated  that,  immediately  on  arriving  in  this 
city,  I  found  myself  in  the  presence  of  that  great  con- 
troversy which  resulted  five  years  afterwards  (1838) 
in  a  division  of  our  Church.  The  theological  questions 
involved  in  this  controversy,  had  agitated  the  country 
for  several  years.  All  New  England  was  convulsed 
with  disputations  about  the  "  New  Haven  divinity." 
And  as  that  theology  had  crossed  the  border  and  in- 
truded into  our  household,  alarm  and  apprehension 
followed  in  its  train.  It  was  not,  as  many  alleged,  a 
mere  war  of  words.  It  took  hold  upon  the  central 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  such  e.  g.  as  original  sin,  the 
atonement,  regeneration,  and  justification,  together 
with  the  whole  subject  of  moral  agency  and  human 
accountability.  Sentiments  were  propounded  on 
these  fundamental  topics  which  contravened  the  plain 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures,  and  which  no  dialectic 
skill  could  reconcile  with  the  Confession  and  Cate- 
chisms of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 


30  Twen'y-FiftJi  Anniversary. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  all  who 
arrayed  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  ''New  School^' 
espoused  these  errors.  When  the  lines  came  to  be  * 
drawn,  many  were  carried  to  that  side  by  local  and 
personal  considerations,  who  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  "  New  Divinity  ;  "  as  others  were,  who  adopted  it 
only  in  some  very  qualified  form.  But  unquestion- 
ably it  was  a  contest  which  involved  both  the  purity 
of  our  faith,  and  the  integrity  of  our  ecclesiastical 
polity.  Two  incompatible  systems  of  doctrine,  and 
two  no  less  irreconcilable  theories  of  ecclesiastical 
authority  and  policy,  were  struggling  for  the  mastery. 
For  five  years  the  issue  remained  doubtful.  The 
opposing  parties  marshalled  their  forces  annually  at 
the  General  Assembly  ;  and  with  varying  fortunes. 
Majorities  vibrated.  In  place  of  the  harmonious  and 
delightful  proceedings  which  now  mark  the  yearly 
convocation  of  our  Supreme  Judicatory,  it  was  then 
an  arena  for  fierce  debate  and  parliamentary  manage- 
ment. The  oriants  of  the  church  were  there  ;  and 
they  were  not  men  to  play  with  foils. 

Interpreting  the  facts  by  the  light  of  subsequent 
history,  the  composition  of  the  two  parties,  viewed  in 
the  aggregate,  is  equally  palpable  and  significant. 
Allowing  for  numerous  individual  exceptions,  it  was 
virtually  a  contest  between  Presbyterianism  and  Con- 


Twenty- FiftJi  Anniversary.  31 

gregationalism  ;  or  certainly  between  those  whose 
training  had  made  them  decided  and  earnest  Presby- 
terians, and  others  who  had  adopted  our  standards  in 
a  loose  and  general  way — "  for  substance  of  doctrine." 
Adhering,  in  her  maturity,  to  a  policy  adopted  in  her 
youth  simply  for  missionary  purposes,  our  church  had 
kept  open  the  door  into  the  ministry  so  wide  and  for 
so  long  a  time,  that  some  hundreds  of  her  pulpits 
were  filled  by  men  who,  however  exemplary  in  other 
respects,  had  no  paramount  attachment  either  to  her 
faith  or  her  government.  It  was  in  keeping  with  this 
character,  that  they  should  steadfastly  resist  all  efforts 
of  the  Church  to  foster  her  own  benevolent  institu- 
tions, as  distinguished  from  voluntary  societies.  The 
Presbyterian  theory  was,  that  the  Church  should  have 
her  own  Boards  of  Missions  and  Education  ;  Boards 
of  her  own  creation,  and  responsible  to  herself;  that 
she  might  superintend  the  training  of  her  ministers 
and  direct  her  missionary  operations  at  home  and 
abroad.  The  counter  view  was,  that  all  these  in- 
terests ought  to  be  conducted  by  existing  Societies 
of  a  mixed  nature,  partly  Presbyterian  and  partly 
Conofregational,  which,  havinof  no  ecclesiastical  char- 
acter,  were  in  a  great  degree  independent  of  eccle- 
siastical control.  This  question  and  that  of  doctrine, 
constituted  the  two  cardinal  issues  on  which  the  con- 


32  Tiveiity- Fifth  Anniversary. 

test  was  waged.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that,  after 
twenty  years'  further  experience,  our  brethren  of  the 
other  branch  of  the  Church  have  admitted  their  error. 
Their  General  Assembly  has  found  it  indispensable 
to  self-preservation  to  establish  Committees  for  con- 
ductincr  the  work  of  Education  and  of  Missions,  on 
the  identical  principle  of  our  Boards. 

These  facts  involve  no  disparagement  of  Congre- 
gationalism as  such.  \or  is  it  desig-ned  to  intimate, 
by  this  historical  review,  that  Congregationalists  ought 
not  to  be  welcomed  to  our  churches.  Some  of  our 
ablest  and  best  Pastors  have  come  to  us  from  that 
body.  We  have  in  our  communion  thousands  of 
faithful  Christians  reared  in  Congregational  churches. 
I  wish  we  might  have  tens  of  thousands  more.  And 
I  would  fain  hope  that  the  friendly  relations  subsist- 
ing between  most  of  the  Cono-reorational  bodies  in 
New  England  and  ourselves  might  be  perpetuated. 
But  when  it  comes  to  introducing  men  into  the  min- 
istry of  our  church  who  have  no  special  affection 
either  for  our  doctrines  or  our  order,  the  case  is 
widely  altered.  Such  an  amalgamation  is  inexpe- 
dient for  all  concerned;  and  at  the  period  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  it  brought  our  beloved  church  to 
the  brink  of  a  precipice.  A  merciful  Providence  in- 
terposed and  rescued  it.     The  division  which  ensued 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary.  33 

was  followed  by  a  law-suit  For  three  weeks  the 
church  stood  at  Csesar's  bar,  while  the  momentous 
issue  was  pending,  whether  she  was  responsible  to 
the  civil  power  for  ecclesiastical  acts  done  by  her  own 
proper  tribunals  and  within  the  scope  of  her  own 
charters.  A  "momentous  issue,"  I  style  it;  because 
"  it  was  a  blow  struck  at  the  root  of  the  great  prin- 
ciple of  our  institutions,  viz  :  that  spiritual  concerns 
are  not  to  be  interfered  with  by  the  civil  power.'"-"'  It 
was  not  our  church  only  which  was  on  trial,  but  every 
church  in  this  Commonwealth.  And  had  the  verdict 
of  the  juryf  been  finally  sustained,  there  would  have 
been  an  end  to  religious  liberty  in  Pennsylvania.  But 
the  Judiciary  nobly  vindicated  the  rights  of  conscience. 
After  a  brief  six  weeks  the  verdict  was  set  aside  \\ 
and  the  whole  case  adjudicated  on  the  broad  princi- 
ples of  the  Constitution  under  which  it  is  our  happi- 
ness to  live. 

How  signally  that  decision  has  been  ratified  by  a 
benificent  Providence,  in  the  unparalleled  prosperity 
of  our  Church  from  the  day  the  case  was  settled  until 
now,  it  needs  but  a  glance  at  our  present  condition 
to  perceive.  But  I  must  not  venture  upon  that  field 
now.     Let  me  return  to  our  own  history. 

*  The  late  Hon.  John  Sergeant. 
t  March  26,  1839. 
5  X  May  8,  1839. 


34  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary . 

I  had  been  no  indifferent  observer  of  the  rising 
contest,  during  my  Seminary-Hfe.  The  "  New  Di- 
vinity" was  my  special  study.  For  some  years  I  had 
Hstened  to  the  preaching  of  its  two  great  expounders. 
One  of  them  had  invited  me  to  become  his  theolog-i- 
cal  pupil.  I  esteemed  and  honored  them  both.  There 
were  strong  personal  considerations  to  bias  me  in 
favor  of  the  system.  But  when  I  came  to  examine  it 
by  the  law  and  the  testimony,  I  saw  plainly  that  it  was 
less  a  theology  than  a  philosophy — an  elaborate  web 
spun  of  earth-born  metaphysics,  not  a  glorious  sys- 
tem of  faith  deduced  from  the  incorruptible  word, 
and  suited  to  the  necessities  oi  a  race  of  sinners. 
This  conviction,  the  fruit  of  long  and  patient  investi- 
gation, was  impressed  upon  my  mind  when  I  came 
here.  But  neither  my  age  nor  my  circumstances 
would  have  justified  me  in  taking  an  early  and  con- 
spicuous part,  as  I  was  urged  to  do,  in  the  existing 
controversy.  My  church,  as  already  mentioned,  had 
been  transferred  to  the  new  Presbytery.  Its  influen- 
tial members  were  divided  amonor  themselves  on  the 
pending  ecclesiastical  questions.  I  was  the  friend  of 
all ;  they  were  all  my  friends.  They  were  content  to 
hear  the  Gospel  from  my  lips  ;  and  it  was  one  of  the 
earliest  of  my  pulpit-offices  among  them,  to  preach 
an  extended    series  of  carefully  written    sermons  on 


Tiventy-FiftJi  Anniversary .  35 

the  doctrines  of  the  atonement  and  regeneration,  one 
design  of  which  was  to  discuss  the  erroneous  senti- 
ments then  prevaiUng  on  those  subjects.  Had  I  gone 
further,  and  made  myself  a  partisan,  or  prematurely 
proposed  a  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  relations  of 
the  church,  the  cono-reo-ation  must  have  been  rent  in 
twain.  As  it  was,  we  remained  where  we  were  until 
the  Second  Presbytery  was  dissolved  by  the  General 
Assembly  (1837),  and  then,  church  and  pastor  applied 
to,  and  were  received  by,  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia. At  the  meeting  of  the  church  held  to  decide 
upon  this  matter,  there  were  some  votes  against  the 
change  ;  and  a  few  excellent  and  useful  men  withdrew 
their  certificates  and  united  with  other  churches.  But 
neither  then,  nor  at  any  other  time,  were  the  harmony 
and  tranquility  of  the  congregation  seriously  dis- 
turbed. When  it  is  remembered  that  our  city  was 
the  theatre  where  the  two  great  parties  had  their  an- 
nual conflict,  and  that  we  were  livine  in  an  atmos- 
phere  surcharged  with  the  elements  of  strife,  this 
result  can  be  referred  only  to  the  special  goodness  of 
God  towards  us.  It  deserves  this  day  our  tribute  of 
gratitude. 

If  it  be  asked,  why  I  have  introduced  this  sketch 
into  my  discourse,  I  answer,  because  it  is  the  most 
important  ecclesiastical  transaction  which  has  occurred 


36  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary. 

here  during  my  ministry  ;  and  it  could  not  have  been 
passed  over  with  any  propriety.  I  have  no  desire  to 
re-open  the  questions  then  settled  ;  still  less,  to  revive 
any  personal  antipathies  or  prejudices.  I  do  not  know 
of  a  single  minister  in  our  Presbytery  who  cherishes 
the  slightest  feeling  of  unkindness  towards  his  brethren 
in  the  other  branch  of  the  church.  I  never  hear  them 
mentioned  except  in  terms  of  respect  and  courtesy, 
and  with  satisfaction  at  the  success  with  which  God 
may  be  crowning  their  labors.  The  controversy  is 
hardly  ever  alluded  to  in  our  clerical  intercourse.  It 
belongs  now  to  histor}-  ;  and  there  we  are  content  to 
leave  it.  The  land  is  broad  enough  for  the  two 
Churches  to  pursue  their  respective  plans  without 
collision  or  jealousy.  And  the  only  rivalry  between 
them  should  be,  which  shall  do  most  for  the  salvation 
of  men,  and  the  orlorv  of  their  common  Redeemer. 

One  controversy  suggests  another.  This  also  be- 
longs to  the  record  of  the  past  quarter  century ;  and 
as  Providence  was  pleased  to  assign  me  some  very 
humble  part  in  it,  I  may  be  allowed  briefly  to  speak 
of  it. 

I  fear  no  challeno-e,  when  I  claim  it  as  one  of  the 
honorable  characteristics  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
that  however  aggressive  it  may  be  in  its  demonstra- 
tions against  worldliness  and  sin,  and  against  false 


Twenty- Fif til  Anniversary.  37 

religions  of  whatever  name  or  creed,  its  spirit  is 
eminently  peaceful  and  fraternal  towards  all  evangeli- 
cal denominations.  It  is  no  part  of  the  ordinary 
routine  of  our  Pastors  to  preach  against  or  about 
other  churches.  Their  peculiarities  are  rarely  men- 
tioned, unless  it  be  in  a  didactic  form,  by  way  of  ex- 
plaining some  doctrine  or  rite  of  our  own.  Our 
readiness  in  co-operating  with  them  for  objects  of 
common  interest  may  be  seen  of  all  men.  And  we 
cordially  bid  them  God-speed  in  all  legitimate  and 
scriptural  efforts  to  promote  the  cause  of  Christ. 

But  if  we  are  slow  to  attack,  we  know  how  to 
defend.  Dwelling  among  our  own  people,  and  begirt 
with  munitions  of  rocks  reared  by  no  mortal  hand,  we 
cannot  allow  our  peaceful  heritage  to  be  invaded, 
without  resentincr  and  resistino-  it.  It  was  so  invaded 
at  the  period  to  which  I  refer — some  fifteen  or  sixteen 
yedrs  ago.  The  Oxford  Tract  movement  vivified  the 
dormant  elements  of  ecclesiastical  pride  and  intoler- 
ance in  the  Church  of  England ;  and  the  controversy 
thus  originated  soon  embroiled  the  Protestant  de- 
nominations  generally  in  Great  Britain  and  America. 
The  pretensions  put  forth  by  the  sponsors  of  this 
movement  were  monstrous.  They  reached  to  the 
extreme  of  parcelling  off  the  entire  Christian  Church 
among    the    Episcopal,   the    Papal,   and    the    corrupt 


38  Tzventy-FiftJi  Anniversary, 

Oriental  Hierarchies.  Outside  of  these  Hmits  there 
was  no  church,  no  ministry,  no  vahd  ordinances.  The 
ministers  of  other  denominations  were  unauthorized 
intruders  into  the  sacred  office,  and  their  churches 
were  schismatical  organizations. 

These  sentiments  were  not  breathed  in  a  corner. 
They  were  proclaimed  from  the  pulpit.  They  were 
sent  forth  from  the  press  in  every  imaginable  form, 
from  the  stately  and  learned  octavo  to  the  sentimental 
novel.  They  were  scattered  broadcast  over  the  land. 
With  proselyting  officiousness,  they  were  thrust,  in 
private  life,  upon  the  members  of  other  churches,  who, 
not  unfrequently,  came  to  their  pastors  in  perplexity 
of  mind,  as  members  of  my  church  did  to  me,  to  seek 
counsel  and  instruction. 

No  alternative  was  left  us.  However  averse  to 
controversy,  it  was  the  most  obvious  of  all  duties  to 
repel  these  attacks,  and  protect  our  people  in  the 
enjoyment  of  their  hereditary  rights  and  franchises. 
The  ground  which  we  stood  upon,  we  occupied  in 
common  with  nearly  all  the  churches  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Indeed,  at  the  Reformation,  evcjy  Protestant 
Church  rejected  the  jw'e  divino  doctrine  of  Prelacy 
the  English  Church  adopted  that  polity  on  grounds 
very  different  from  those  assumed  by  so  many  of  its 
clergy  in  later  times.     To  this  day.  Diocesan  Episco- 


Twenty- Fifth  Annivei^sary.  39 

pacy  probably  does  not  embrace  among  its  supporters 
onc-fiftee]ith  part  of  the  population  of  Protestant 
Christendom.  That  any  portion  of  the  Church  should 
prefer  and  adopt  it,  as  the  most  expedient  and  suit- 
able system  for  themselves,  is  all  well.  No  one  will 
complain  of  this.  We,  certainly,  who  are  of  the  great 
family  of  the  Reformed  Churches,  can  have  no  quarrel 
with  them  for  building  their  walls  on  a  pattern  dif- 
ferent from  ours.  Nor  do  we  readily  see  why  they 
should  have  any  quarrel  with  us.  We  believe  that 
their  covenant  God  and  ours  is  the  same  ;  that  the 
same  Redeemer  died  for  us  ;  that  the  same  Divine 
Spirit  dwells  in  both  Churches  ;  and  that  we  are  all 
travellinp^  to  the  same  heaven.  We  see  in  their  com- 
munion  many  of  God's  dear  children  whose  piety  and 
zeal  would  be  an  ornament  to  any  church.  We  honor 
their  church  for  all  that  God  has  done  through  its  in- 
strumentality in  behalf  of  the  common  salvation.  We 
know  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be  perpetual 
amity  and  fellowship  between  us.  And  this,  we  are 
persuaded,  is  the  sentiment  of  growing  numbers  in 
their  own  ranks,  who  revolt  at  the  idea  of  their  tribe, 
one  of  the  least  of  the  thousands  of  Judah,  severing 
itself  from  the  communion  of  the  great  body  of  God's 
Israel. 

But,   unhappily,   at  the    period  just    indicated,   an 


40  Tiventy-FiftJi  Anniversary. 

arrogant  and  denunciatory  spirit  ran  riot  for  a 
time  throuo-h  their  body ;  and  as  it  proscribed  all 
other  Churches,  a  general  conflict  was  unavoidable. 
In  common  with  other  Pastors  in  our  Church,  I  felt  it 
my  duty  to  deliver  and  publish  a  course  of  Lectures, 
exposing  the  unscriptural  nature  of  these  pretensions, 
and  warning  you  against  the  devices  employed  to 
seduce  you  from  your  ancient  faith.  With  the  final 
results  of  the  contest  we  are  content. 

This  controversy,  also,  has  now  passed  into  the 
province  of  the  historian.  Let  us  hope  that  a  fresh 
baptism  of  the  Spirit  may  avert  similar  calamities,  and 
draw  closer  than  ever  the  bonds  which  should  unite  all, 
of  whatever  name,  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
It  will  be  time  enough  for  the  Churches  to  war  with 
each  other  when  they  can  find  no  more  enemies  of 
their  common  Master  to  turn  their  arms  against. 

I  came  to  you,  as  I  have  related,  direct  from  the 
Seminary.  That  twenty-five  years  should  have 
passed  since  that  eventful  evening,  sounds  to  me  like 
a  fable  or  a  dream.  It  is  only  when  I  cast  my  eyes 
around  me  that  I  can  realize  it.  An  unusual  thing  it 
is — too  unusual — for  a  Pastor  to  spend  a  quarter  of 
a  century  with  the  same  congregation.  In  my  own 
case,  it  is  the  more  remarkable  because  of  the  pre- 
carious  health   which   has    so   often    interrupted   my 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary.  41 

labors.  The  foundation  of  this  was  laid  in  a  severe 
attack  of  sickness  contracted  on  a  necessary  visit  to 
the  North,  only  two  weeks  after  my  installation.  It 
has  repeatedly  led  to  a  suspension  of  my  ministrations 
for  several  weeks  or  months  together;  and  in  1847, 
under  imperative  medical  advice,  I  was  obliged  to 
spend  a  year  in  Europe.  I  felt  that  it  was  due  to  my 
congregation,  before  going  abroad,  to  place  my  resig- 
nation in  their  hands.  I  can  never  forget  the  kind- 
ness  with  which  you  returned  it  to  me,  and  the 
generous  sympathy  you  expressed  in  my  trial. 

If  I  should  say  that  various  opportunities  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind  have  been  thrown  in  my  way  for  termi- 
nating this  relation,  I  should  only  relate  a  common 
experience  among  Pastors.  Few  men,  I  suppose, 
spend  twenty-five  years  in  the  ministry  without  being 
more  or  less  approached  with  invitations  to  change 
their  place  of  residence.  Among  the  suggestions  of 
this  sort  which  have  reached  me,  there  have  been 
some  of  a  very  attractive  character ;  and  one'""  which 
came  to  me  so  clothed  with  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
and  so  enforced  by  private  solicitation,  that  the  dis- 
position of  it  became  the  most  perplexing  and  painful 

*  The  appointment  of  the  author  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1853,  to  the 
chair  of  Pastoral  Theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  vacated 
by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander. — (See  Appendix.') 

6 


42  Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary. 

question  I  have  ever  had  to  deal  with.  The  occasion 
is  too  recent  to  require  that  I  should  do  more  than 
advert  to  it  in  this  passing  way.  Let  it  suffice  to 
state,  that  your  own  earnest  and  affectionate  remon- 
strances, seconded  by  a  formal  appeal  on  the  part  of 
the  leading  members  of  the  Bar,  the  Schools  of 
Medicine,  the  men  of  science,  and  the  chief  merchants 
of  our  city,  (the  most  remarkable  incident,  so  I  regard 
it,  of  my  whole  public  life,)  forbade  me  to  leave  you. 
I  have  seen  no  cause  to  regret  my  decision.  I  ma)' 
not  speak  with  confidence  about  my  charge  here ; 
but,  in  all  frankness,  I  believe  that  the  result  has  been 
highly  advantageous  to  the  Princeton  Seminary,  and 
to  our  Church  at  large. 

There  are  some  considerations  pertaining  to  the  re- 
sponsibilities and  duties  of  a  pastorate  in  a  great  city, 
and  particularly  in  our  own  city,  as  distinguished  from  a 
conorreg^ation  in  the  countrs',  or  in  a  small  town,  which 
naturally  occur  to  the  mind  at  a  season  like  this,  and 
it  may  be  allowable  to  devote  a  few  words  to  them, 
I  refer,  in  general,  to  the  wide  sphere  of  labor  which 
a  minister  in  this  position  is  expected  to  fill ;  and  the 
variety  of  objects  which  invite  or  demand  his  attention. 
Even  as  regards  the  composition  of  his  own  congrega- 
tion, there  may  be  peculiarities  which  have  an  im- 
portant bearing  upon  his  ministrations.      His  people 


TziJcnty-FiftJi  Annivei^sary.  43 

are  a  constituent  part  of  that  concourse  of  human 
beings  who  go  to  make  every  large  city  a  centre  of 
mighty  influence  ;  and  there  may  be  among  them 
some  who  have  much  to  do  in  determining  whether 
that  influence  shall  be  for  good  or  for  evil.  Again, 
he  preaches  to  numerous  strangers.  There  must  be 
some  thousands  of  visitors  and  travelers  in  such  a 
city  every  Sabbath,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  find 
their  way  to  the  sanctuary.  In  this  way,  a  Pastor  is 
constantly  casting  bread  upon  the  waters.  They  stop 
long  enough  to  hear  a  single  sermon  from  his  lips, 
and  are  gone  on  the  morrow  ;  but  who  shall  say  what 
untold  treasures  they  may  not  have  taken  with  them  ? 
Not  only  so,  but  he  may  have  within  the  sound  of  his 
voice  a  different  class  of  strangers  ;  not  transient  way- 
farers, but  temporary  residents.  I  refer,  as  you  may 
suppose,  to  those  admirable  schools,  academical  and 
professional,  which  every  season  attract  such  large 
numbers  of  youth  to  our  city — (for  it  is  of  our  own 
city,  I  prefer  to  speak.)  I  have  always  regarded  the 
Female  Boarding-Schools  connected  with  my  congre- 
gation, as  one  of  its  most  interesting  and  encouraging 
features.  I  have  looked  to  them  with  some  confidence, 
to  see  the  fruit  of  our  Sabbath  services  ;  and,  by  God's 
blessing,  I  have  not  looked  in  vain.  They  have  shared, 
I  think,  in  every  revival  we  have  enjoyed.     And  some- 


44  Twenty- FiftJi  Annivei^sary . 

times  the  dew  has  come  gently  down  upon  these 
fleeces,  when  the  ground  all  around  has  remained 
dry.  It  is,  let  me  add,  one  of  the  real  pleasures  of 
my  occasional  summer  tours  through  the  country,  to 
meet  with  those — now,  perhaps,  happy  wives  and 
mothers — who  hail  me  with  true  affection  as  a  Pastor, 
and  take  me  back  to  their  school  days  in  Philadelphia. 
And  then,  these  Schools  of  Medicine.  Here  are 
one  or  two  thousand  of  young  men  pursuing  their 
studies  in  our  city  for  six  months  of  the  year.  They 
are  from  every  part  of  the  Union.  Their  future  in- 
fluence, social  and  professional,  must  depend  largely, 
under  Providence,  upon  the  training  they  receive 
here.  It  is  no  trivial  responsibility  to  be  concerned, 
even  so  far  as  their  occasional  attendance  upon  one's 
ministrations  may  go,  in  giving  direction  to  a  swelling 
tide  of  influence  like  this.  That  the  agency  of  the 
pulpit  Is  not  always  lost  upon  them,  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  fact,  that  In  two  instances  known  to  me, 
young  men  who  came  here  to  study  medicine,  were 
led  in  this  house  to  exchange  that  profession  for  the 
ministry,  and  are  now,  one  of  them,  as  already  noted, 
an  accomplished  and  eminent  foreign  missionary,  the 
other  an  active  and  useful  Pastor  in  one  of  our  prin- 
cipal cities.  Why  should  we  not  expect  beneficent 
changes  like  these  to  occur  frequently  ?     There  must 


Tivcnty-FiftJi  Anniversary.  45 

be  many  pious  young  men  in  these  medical  classes, 
who  have  never  even  examined  the  question,  whether 
it  may  not  be  their  duty  to  enter  the  ministry.  And 
how  many  are  there  who,  if  converted,  might  become 
burninof  and  shininof  liohts  in  the  church  ! 

But  it  is  not  only  in  the  pulpit  that  we  have  to  do 
with  strangers.  Besides  the  ordinary  claims  of  hos- 
pitality which  visitors  expect  at  the  hands  of  the  resi- 
dent Pastors,  and  which  it  is  our  pleasure  to  recognize, 
the  medical  reputation  of  our  city  makes  it  the  Mecca 
of  invalids.  A  very  large  number  of  these  have  been 
under  my  pastoral  care,  frequently  for  months  to- 
gether. My  visits  of  this  kind  could  be  reckoned 
only  by  hundreds,  perhaps  by  thousands.  And  I 
would  not  have  had  it  otherwise.  For  what  could  I  do, 
should  I  hear  at  last  those  piercing  words,  "  I  was  a 
stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in  :  I  was  sick,  and  ye 
visited  me  not."  Far  from  their  homes,  oppressed 
with  disease,  possibly  drawing  near  to  death,  who 
would  not  deem  it  a  privilege  to  go  to  these  sufferers 
and,  if  so  it  might  be,  alleviate  their  sorrows  and 
soothe  their  anxieties,  by  pointing  them  to  the  Lamb 
of  God  ?  There  are  no  chapters  in  my  experience 
as  a  minister,  more  affecting  than  some  which  relate 
to  this  subject.  I  could  describe  to  you  scenes  of 
anguish    which    would    move  you   all    to   tears  ;  and 


46  Twenty- FiftJi  Anniversary. 

scenes  of  rapture  which  would  thrill  you  with  holy 
and  grateful  joy.  But  I  must  not  detain  you  with 
such  incidents. 

I  refer  to  these  things,  to  illustrate  the  cares  and 
responsibilities  of  a  Pastor  in  a  great  city.  But  what 
you  have  heard  is  only  the  beginning.  If  you  would 
know  the  whole,  you  must  not  only  be  familiar  with 
his  entire  congregation,  but  you  must  understand  his 
relations  with  the  benevolent  institutions  of  his  own 
Church  ;  the  time  he  is  expected  to  devote  to  the  in- 
terests of  education,  and  to  the  manifold  metropolitan 
charities  which  need  and  deserve  the  countenance  of 
the  clergy  ;  the  endless  interviews  with  the  authors 
or  agents  of  all  sorts  of  good  objects  in  each  one  of 
our  thirty  or  forty  States  and  Territories;  and  the 
mosaic-like  correspondence  he  carries  on  with  all 
manner  of  people  from  January  to  December.  The 
sum  of  the  whole  is,  that  if  a  Pastor  fulfil,  even  in 
any  tolerable  degree,  the  ends  of  his  ministry,  he  can- 
not lead  a  very  idle  life.  And,  again,  it  should  excite 
no  surprise  that  so  many  Pastors  break  down  under 
these  accumulated  labors — labors  which  in  the  prin- 
cipal churches  of  the  European  capitals  are  always 
divided  among  two  or  three  ministers.  The  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  in  our  country  is  gradually 
adopting  the  same  system:  there  are  probably  some 


Twenty- Fifth  Annivei^sary.  47 

present  who  will  live  to  see  it  extensively  introduced 
into  our  own  communion. 

There  is  another  view  of  a  pastorate  in  one  of  these 
great  cities,  to  which  my  long  residence  here  may 
justify  me  in  adverting.  In  their  social  structure  they 
differ  essentially  from  all  other  communities.  They 
are  the  centres,  not  simply  of  trade,  and  of  politics,  but 
of  talent,  of  learning,  of  art,  of  eloquence.  The  lib- 
eral professions  are  there  in  their  strongest  array. 
They  attract  to  themselves  genius  and  enterprise  of 
every  type,  and  from  every  quarter.  They  are  the 
seat  of  that  great  power  in  a  free  State,  the  press; 
the  theatre  of  books  and  reviews,  and  of  daily  jour- 
nalism, the  pabulum  of  the  masses.  Everything  is 
canvassed — politics,  commerce,  philosophy,  religion — 
the  huge  alembic  is  forever  seething  and  surging. 
Intense  intellectual  activity  is  the  law  of  that  miniature 
world.  And  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century 
several  new  agencies  have  come  into  play,  which  have 
impressed  upon  the  whole  mass  a  greatly  increased 
momentum. 

Among  these  may  be  specified  certain  radical  events 
in  our  political  progress  (it  cannot  be  necessary  to 
name  them),  which  have  conspired  to  develop  more 
fully  the  inherent  vigor  and  restlessness  of  our  na- 
tional character.     Again,   science  has  been  popular- 


48  Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary. 

ized  to  an  extent  unthought  of  at  any  former  era. 
Nor  can  we  overlook,  in  this  connection,  the  founding 
of  that  new  social  institution,  which  promises  to  in- 
corporate itself  with  our  metropolitan  life,  I  mean. 
Popular  Lectures.  This  has  grown,  in  part,  out  of  a 
general  craving  for  some  species  of  entertainment 
more  rational,  and  of  better  moral  tendency,  than 
dramatic  performances.  The  indications  are,  that  we 
are  to  have  a  body  of  Lecturers  as  a  distinct  and  per- 
manent profession.  What  the  ultimate  effect  of  such 
an  institution  will  be,  we  have  not  as  yet  the  requisite 
data  for  determining.  With  our  limited  experience, 
however,  it  is  quite  apparent  that  it  will  combine  the 
gjod  and  the  bad,  like  most  other  human  contri- 
vances. It  is  at  least  certain,  that  the  business  will  be 
largely  taken  up  by  men  of  showy  parts  and  facile 
elocution,  the  sponsors,  often,  of  grave  errors  in  re- 
ligion or  in  morals.  Orators  of  this  description  will 
find  ready  employment  at  the  hands  of  men  who  get 
up  courses  of  Lectures  for  private  gain,  and  who  are 
indifferent  to  every  question  but  that  of  the  profits. 
To  them,  it  is  all  one  whether  their  rhetoricians  declaim 
truth  or  error,  deism  or  pantheism,  Paul  or  Spinoza. 
They  would  as  soon  seed  the  ground  with  thistles  as 
with  wheat ;  or  have  the  fountain  they  open  at  the 
very  heart  of  a  great  city,   send  forth   hemlock,   as 


Tivcnty-Fifth  Anniversary.  49 

living  water.  Like  the  British  opium  dealers  in  China 
their  aims  are  purely  mercenary;  and  so  they  make 
money,  it  is  no  concern  of  theirs  who  are  poisoned 
and  who  nof. 

That  professional  Lecturers  generally  have  been, 
or  are  likely  to  be,  of  this  description,  is  not  asserted. 
The  class  already  comprises  men  of  eminent  worth, 
who  never  gain  the  public  ear  without  pouring  into 
it  something  adapted  to  make  people  wiser  and  better; 
and  we  may  hope  that  such  teachers  will  be  multiplied. 
But  we  have  seen  enough  to  know  that  the  system  is 
susceptible  of  ready  abuse,  and  may  be  perverted  to 
the  very  worst  ends.  In  either  case,  whether  well  or 
badly  managed  in  a  moral  view,  it  is  exerting  a 
powerful  influence  upon  the  social  life  of  these  cities, 
and  must  not  be  omitted  in  formingf  an  estimate  of 
the  present  position  oi  th.Q  pulpii. 

The  idea  I  wish  to  present,  on  this  head,  as  deduced 
from  our  very  cursory  survey  of  the  field  is,  that  the 
demands  upon  the  metropolitan  pulpit  have  been 
gradually  rising  during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and 
that  it  needs  to  o^ird  itself"  with  fresh  streng-th  if  it 
would  continue  to  command  the  homagfe  of  the  culti- 
vated  mind  of  the  country.  In  saying  this,  I  am  far 
from  recommending  that  the  sacred  desk  should  be 
degraded  to  an  arena  for  intellectual  gladiatorship. 
7 


50  Twenty- Fifth  Aimivei-sary. 

I  do  not  forget  that  the  Christian  ministry  is  a  divine 
institution,  with  its  appointed  sphere  which  it  may  not 
transcend,  and  its  prescribed  themes  which  it  may 
not  neglect,  but  at  its  peril.  Nor  can  I  question  that 
this  institution,  so  ordained  and  equipped  of  God  as 
his  chosen  instrumentality  for  reforming  and  saving 
the  world,  is  equal  even  to  the  herculean  task  de- 
manded of  it  here  ;  that,  by  God's  blessing,  it  can  so 
restrain,  ameliorate,  and  control  all  these  tumultuous 
forces  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  as  to  work 
out  not  merely  the  well-being  of  society,  but  the 
spiritual  elevation  and  eternal  well-being  of  the  in- 
dividuals who  compose  one  of  these  mighty  Babels, 
But  the  point  of  the  argument  is  this.  The  preach- 
ing of  the  cross  follows  the  law  of  all  other  instru- 
ments ;  to  effect  its  end  it  must  be  used  according 
to  the  desien  of  its  Author.  It  is  not  in  the  nature 
of  things  that  the  pulpit  should  maintain  its  hold  upon 
this  complex,  impatient,  excited  mass  of  human  beings, 
at  least  upon  the  educated  portion  of  them,  unless  it 
bring  to  its  vocation  competent  intellectual  vigor  and 
various  knowledge,  as  well  as  genuine  moral  ex- 
cellence. It  must  keep  abreast  of  the  other  learned 
professions  in  ability  and  general  culture.  It  must 
be  able  to  present  the  high  themes  of  revelation  in  a 
manner  adapted  to  win  the  respect  of  a  community 


Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary.  51 

so  constituted,  and  that,  too,  without  compromising 
the  Gospel  in  a  single  point  of  doctrine,  or  abating 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  its  lofty  requisitions. 

Here,  then,  is  work  for  the  ministry  which  will  de- 
mand the  utmost  exertion  of  their  powers.  It  is  not 
to  be  compassed  without  patient  study  and  per- 
severing toil.  They  must  "give  attendance  to  read- 
ing, to  exhortation,  to  doctrine;"  and  "study  to  show 
themselves  approved  unto  God,  workmen  that  need 
not  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth." 
However  important  it  may  be  to  keep  up  a  familiar 
personal  intercourse  with  their  congregations,  it  will 
not  do  to  allow  this,  except  In  cases  of  sickness  and 
affliction,  to  take  precedence  of  their  public  ministra- 
tions. No  intelligent  congregation  can  be  perma- 
nently satisfied  with  pastoral  visiting  as  a  substitute 
for  Instructive  preaching.  They  may  tolerate  It  for  a 
while  ;  but  by  and  by  they  will  begin  to  bemoan  the 
penury  of  the  pulpit,  and  to  inquire  whether  it  was  a 
purely  Levitical  ordinance,  that  "  the  priest's  lips 
should  keep  knoivledge!''  Exhausting  work  It  Is, 
which  they  ask  of  their  Pastor — far  more  so  than  in- 
cessant visiting — but  they  will  feel,  and  they  ought  to 
feel  that,  instead  of  consuming  his  time  and  strength 
In  visiting  a  few  families,  week  by  week,  his  prime 
duty  is  to  prepare    "  beaten  oil  "  for  the  sanctuary, 


52  Twenty-Fifth  AiiJiiversary . 

which  may  irradiate  and  cheer  his  entire  flock  ;  and, 
this  being  accompHshed,  to  see  all  he  can  of  them  at 
their  houses. 

But  this  is  an  incidental  suggestion.  The  main 
idea  to  be  enforced  is,  that  the  sphere  of  pastoral 
labor  in  these  cities  is  constantly  expanding ;  that  it 
demands,  and  will  reward  the  noblest  energies,  and 
the  most  self-denying  efforts  of  any  man  whom  Provi- 
dence may  appoint  to  the  work ;  and  that,  when 
every^thing  is  done  which  such  a  man  can  do,  nothing 
is  accomplished  except  as  God  may  bless  his  poor 
instrumentality. 

Not  to  pursue  this  topic  farther  than  may  barely 
suffice  to  lift  the  curtain  for  a  moment  upon  the  rela- 
tions and  responsibilities  of  a  Pastor  established  in 
one  of  these  marts  of  empire,  let  us  cast  an  eye 
beyond  our  own  enclosure.  The  changes  described 
as  having  occurred  among  ourselves,  have  their  coun- 
terpart in  the  records  of  our  own  sister  churches  in 
this  city,  and,  indeed,  in  the  history  of  the  various  de- 
nominations here,  for  the  past  twenty-five  years.  I 
find  myself  at  the  close  of  this  period,  among  the 
senior  Pastors  of  the  city. 

When  I  came  here  to  reside  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes 
had  already  been  setded  as  the  Pastor  of  the  First 
Church  for  three  years,  and  the  Rev.  George  Chand- 


Tiventy-Fifth  Anniversary.  53 

ler  as  Pastor  cf  the  First  Church  in  Kensington  for 
a  still  longer  period.  The  Second  Church  was  vacant, 
but  a  few  months  after  called  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cuyler  to 
its  pulpit.  Dr.  Ely  was  Pastor  of  the  Third  Church  ; 
Mr.  Potts,  of  the  P'ourth  ;  Dr.  Winchester,  of  the 
Sixth  ;  Dr.  Engles,  of  the  Seventh  ;  Mr.  McCalla,  of 
the  Eighth  ;  Mr.  Gibson,  of  the  Ninth  ;  Mr.  Grant,  of 
the  Eleventh;  Mr.  Eustace,  of  the  Twelfth  ;  Mr.  Pat- 
terson, of  the  First  Church,  Northern  Liberties  ;  Mr. 
Judson,  of  the  First  Church,  Southwark,  and  Mr. 
Symmes,  of  the  Fairmount  Church.  Dr.  McDowell 
had  been  settled  the  year  before  as  the  first  Pastor  of 
the  Central  Church.  The  First  Church,  Penn  Town- 
ship; the  Second  Church,  Southwark;  and  the  Second 
Church,  Kensington,  were  vacant.  Dr.  Skinner  hav- 
ing resigned  the  charge  of  the  Fifth  Church  (now  Dr. 
Wadsworth's),  to  go  to  Andover,  that  church  was 
vacant,  and  so  remained  for  several  years.  A  seces- 
sion from  it  subsequently  organized  the  Clinton  Street 
Conoreoational  Church,  and  invited  Dr.  Todd  to  be- 
come  their  Pastor.  After  spending  some  years  with 
them  Dr.  Todd  returned  to  New  England,  and  they 
were  reorganized  as  a  Presbyterian  Church. 

It  will  be  seen  that  of  the  fourteen  Presbyterian 
Pastors  I  found  here,  only  three  remain  in  the  city. 
With  these  may  be  associated  the  laborious  and  effi- 


54  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversajy. 

cient  Pastor  of  the  Independent  Church  on  Broad 
Street.  Several  of  the  churches  have  changed  their 
Pastors  three  or  four  times.  The  mortahty  among 
our  ministers  has  been  of  a  character  to  excite  very 
solemn  and  tender  reflections.  Of  those  who  have 
resided  here,  whether  as  Pastors  or  otherwise,  for  a 
term  of  years  since  '^2>y  I  can'  recall  no  less  than 
twenty-four  who  have  died — some  few  of  them  after 
removing  from  the  city.  You  will  be  interested  in 
hearing  this  list  from  the  necrology  of  the  Church. 
It  is  as  follows  : — 

The  venerable  Mr.  Potts,  Mr.  Judson,  Mr.  Scott, 
Mr.  Dinwiddle,  Mr.  Blythe,  Mr.  Eustace,  Mr.  Patter- 
son, Mr.  Loughridge,  Mr.  Williamson,  Dr.  Winches- 
ter, Mr.  Stewart,  Mr.  Harned,  Mr.  Hoge,  Mr.  Doug- 
las, Dr.  John  Breckinridge,  Dr.  Green,  Dr.  Cuyler, 
Dr.  Wm.  A.  McDowell,  Mr.  Manwaring,  Dr.  Carroll, 
Mr.  Connell,  Mr.  Dickinson,  Mr.  Rood,  and  Mr. 
Ramsey.  Of  these  twenty-four,  seventeen  were  or 
had  been  Pastors  in  this  city. 

I  know  of  no  Baptist  minister  who  has  been  here 
for  twenty-five  years.  Most  of  their  pulpits  have 
been  vacant  and  refilled  several  times.  The  same  is 
true  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Several  of 
their  older  congregations  have  had  two,  three,  and 
even  four  Rectors  since  1833.     Among  the  ministers 


Twenty- FiftJi  Anniversary.  55 

of  that  church  who  have  passed  away,  may  be  men- 
tioned the  venerable  Bishop  White,  Mr.  James,  Dr. 
Bedell,  Dr.  Abercrombie,  Dr.  Montgomery,  Dr.  Clark, 
Dr.  Boyd,  Mr.  Fowles,  and  Mr.  Tyng.  To  these  may 
be  added  Dr.  Livingston,  and  his  late  excellent  son, 
and  Dr.  Ludlow,  all  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church; 
that  eminent  divine  and  scholar,  Dr.  Wylie,  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  ;  Mr.  Bowers,  of  the 
Associated  Reformed  ;  and  the  venerable  Dr.  Mayer, 
of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

It  were  well  to  pause  and  ponder  this  record.  To 
a  Pastor,  it  is  full  of  solemn  meaning.  I  would  fain 
have  my  own  heart  opened  to  its  monitory  teachings; 
as  I  would  gladly  linger,  also,  to  pay  a  tribute  of  re- 
spect and  sympathy  to  the  memories  of  these  excellent 
men.  But  the  time  forbids  this  :  and  I  pass  on  to 
notice  chanores  of  a  different  character. 

In  1833,  there  were  twenty  churches  here  in  con- 
nection with  the  General  Assembly.  Now  there  are 
twenty-seven  belonging  to  our  branch  of  the  Church, 
and  fifteen  to  the  other,  making  a  total  of  forty-two. 
In  the  year  1838,  after  the  separation  took  place, 
there  were  in  our  churches  (O.  S.)  about  two  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  communicants.  Now,  we  number 
about  eight  thousand ;  the  number  having  trebled 
in  twenty  years. 


56  Twcnty-FiftJi  Anniversary. 

Regarded  in  itself,  diis  is  a  very  gradfying  increase 
both  as  to  churches  and  communicants.  But  the 
population  of  the  city  has  advanced  from  one  hundred 
and  sixty-one  thousand  in  1830,  to,  say,  four  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  (city  and  liberties,  not  including 
the  county)  in  1858.  In  other  words,  there  are  nearly 
three  hundred  thousand  more  people  here  to  be 
supplied  with  the  means  of  grace  than  there  were 
twenty-eight  years  ago.  In  any  other  country,  this 
would  sound  more  like  romance  than  history.  Here 
it  is  sober  verity.  And  while,  in  one  view,  we  may 
congratulate  ourselves  at  what  we  have  accomplished, 
in  another,  we  have  cause  to  feel  humbled  that  we 
have  done  so  little  towards  bringing  the  ordinances 
of  the  Gospel  within  the  reach  of  this  vast  population. 
Let  us  work  while  the  day  lasts  ;  the  night  cometh 
in  which  no  man  can  work. 

If  the  time  allowed,  it  would  be  interesting  to 
glance  at  the  extraordinary  progress  of  our  Church 
at  large  since  1833,  and  to  spread  before  you  the 
statistics  of  our  various  Boards.  But  I  must  content 
myself  with  the  following  summary.  The  figures  in 
the  first  column  present  the  state  of  the  whole  Church, 
five  years  before  the  separation.  Those  in  the  second, 
are  the  statistics  of  our  own  branch  of  the  Church 
for  the  current  year. 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary .  57 

1833.  1858. 

Ministers,          -          -          -          -          -  1,855  2,320 

Churches,          .          .          .          .          .  2,500  3,146 

Communicants,         .         .         .         .  233,580  233,755 

Synods,            .....  22  33 

Presbyteries,              ....  m  159 

Addinor  to  these  the  statistics  of  the  other  branch 
of  the  Church,  the  total  will  be,  Ministers,  three 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty-two;  Churches,  four 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three;  Communi- 
cants, three  hundred  and  seventy-seven  thousand  two 
hundred  and  sixty-five. 

It  were  futile  to  attempt  to  embrace  in  a  single  ser- 
mon the  reflections  awakened  even  by  this  very 
superficial  retrospect  of  the  period  which  defines  my 
pastoral  life  among  you.  One  sentiment,  not  so  im- 
mediately personal  as  some  I  may  presently  express, 
is  too  deeply  impressed  upon  my  mind  to  be  withheld. 

The  last  twenty-five  years  has  been  a  time  of  trial 

no  less   for  churches   than   for  political   institutions. 

Every  important   denomination   in   our  country  has 

been  agitated  with  great  controversies.     Several  of 

them  have  been  rent  asunder.     And  others,  though 

retaining  an  external  cohesion,  are  riven  with  seams 

and  fissures  which  make  their  alleged  unity  a  merely 

nominal   thing.     The   position    in   which   Providence 

placed  me,  has  not  been  unfavorable  to  a  calm  and 
8 


58  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary. 

comprehensive  survey  of  the  working  of  the  various 
systems  of  ecclesiastical  faith  and  polity.  And  I  feel 
it  to  be  both  my  duty  and  my  pleasure,  to  say  here 
to-day,  that  ever)^  year's  experience  has  gone  to  con- 
firm my  confidence  in  the  principles  which  you  and  I 
entertain,  and  to  enhance  my  gratitude  to  God  that 
/  have  had  my  bii^th  and  training  and  ministry  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  I  cast  no  reproach  upon 
other  Churches.  I  challenge  no  exclusive  immuni- 
ties for  our  own.  But  I  bless  God  that  /  am  a 
Presbyterian. 

One  ground  of  this  is,  that  in  reviewing  the  period 
of  my  pastorate,  I  find  the  Presbyterian  Church  honor- 
ably distinguished  by  the  estimate  it  puts  upon  Divine 
truth.  There  is  a  system  of  theology  which,  how- 
ever it  may  be  designated  by  a  mere  human  name, 
and  styled  Calvinisin  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  has 
been  held  by  the  great  body  of  eminent  divines  and 
evangelical  Christians  from  the  days  of  the  apostles 
until  now.  It  was  embodied  in  the  Creeds  and  Con- 
fessions of  the  Reformed  Churches,  with  scarcely  an 
exception.  It  teaches  the  sovereignty  of  God,  the 
fore-ordination  of  all  events,  the  depravity  of  man,  the 
vicarious  nature  and  the  efficacy  of  the  atonement, 
the  necessity  of  regeneration,  justification  by  faith 
alone,  the  absolute  dependence  of  man  upon  the  Holy 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary .  59 

Spirit,  the  obligation  of  repentance  and  holy  obedience, 
and  eternal  rewards  and  punishments.  Of  this  system, 
which  so  many  illustrious  theologians  and  so  many 
renowned  churches  have  deduced  from  the  teachings 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  I  have  found  the  Church 
to  which  it  is  your  privilege  and  mine  to  belong,  to 
be  the  special  guardian.  She  has  not  held  it  as  a 
mere  form — content  that  it  should  be  enshrined  in 
her  symbols  and  put  away  out  ol  sight.  She  has  not 
overshadowed  it  with  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  de- 
graded it  to  a  subordinate  place  in  her  ministrations. 
She  has  not  allowed  other  incompatible  and  hostile 
Creeds  to  come  and  encamp  within  her  walls  along- 
side of  it.  She  has  not  permitted  her  ministers  to 
suppress  it,  lest,  peradventure,  certain  of  its  high  and 
holy  utterances  might  offend  the  pride  of  the  human 
heart.  On  the  contrary,  she  has  insisted  that  her 
pastors  should  hold  it  in  its  plenary  integrity ;  that 
they  should  faithfully  preach  it ;  that  they  should  repel 
every  effort  which  might  be  made  to  corrupt  or  dilute 
it  ;  that  they  should  instil  it  into  the  minds  of  the 
rising  generation  ;  and  that  they  should  constantly 
impress  it  upon  all  their  people,  that  a  Church  is 
nothing  without  the  truth  ;  that  there  can  be  no  real 
religion  separate  from  the  truth  ;  that  God  has  con- 
fided to  man  no  treasure  so  sacred  and  so  invaluable 


()0  Twenty- Fifth  Aniiiversary . 

as  the  TRUTH  ;  and  that  to  betray  or  even  disparage 
the  TRUTH,  is  to  commit  a  heinous  sin  against  God 
and  to  make  war  upon  the  only  hope  of  a  lost  world. 
These  imperative  and  pregnant  requisitions  I  have 
seen  maintained  and  enforced  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  with  an  energy  displayed  by  no  other  com- 
munion. Nowhere  else  have  I  observed  the  same 
appreciation  put  upon  sound  doctrine,  or  the  same 
stern  and  righteous  reprehension  dealt  out  to  the 
popular  sentiment  expressed  in  that  infidel  sneer, 

"For  modes  o^ faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight," 

Taught  in  a  different  school,  and  imbued  with  a 
spirit  as  alien  from  this  as  light  is  from  darkness,  she 
has,  as  occasion  called  for  it,  "contended  earnestly  for 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  shown  her- 
self a  livine  branch   of  that   Church   which   is   "the 

PILLAR  AND  GROUND  OF  THE   TRUTH." 

Had  she  paused  here,  however,  my  reverence  for 
her  had  been  abated.  But  while  insisting  upon  the 
truth,  I  have  seen  her  with  equal  zeal  reprobating  a 
barren  orthodoxy;  and  everywhere  teaching  that  trtitJi 
was  in  order^  to  godliness.  No  Church  has  been  more 
inflexible  in  enforcing  the  necessity  of  a  radical  change 
of  heart  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  a 
reliance  upon  the  righteousness  of  Christ  as  the  only 


Twenty- Fif til  Anniversary.  61 

ground  of  hope  for  a  sinner.     No  Church  has  been 
more  faithful    in   protesting  against  the  three   great 
delusions  of  fanaticism,  formalism,  and  a  mere  worldly 
Christianity.      She   has    scorned    all    fellowship    with 
those  types  of  so-called  piety  which  make  religion  to 
consist  in  dreams  and  revelations,  and  vulgar  antics 
in  the  sanctuary.     With  the  same  firmness  she   has 
lifted  up  her   remonstrances  against  any  undue  re- 
liance upon  rites  and  sacraments;  and  iterated  it  in 
the  ears  of  her  children,  that  they  might  emulate  the 
very  Pharisees  in  their  outward  observances,  without 
knowing   the    first   rudiments   of   the   Gospel.     And, 
again,  she  has  branded  as  hypocritical  and  ruinous, 
any  profession  of  faith  which  leaves  the  individual  still 
a  votary  of  the  world;  which  practically  aims  at  amal- 
gamating the  service  of  God  and  the  service  of  mam- 
mon, and  repudiates  every  badge  of  discipleship  but 
ofoinof  to  the  Lord's  table.     Resistino-  these  several 
errors,  she  has  never  ceased  to  inculcate  an  enlightened 
and  vigorous  faith,  which  shall  authenticate  itself  by 
a  holy  temper  and  life,  as  indispensable  to  salvation. 
And  herein  she  has  appeared  to  me  to  exhibit  another 
of  the  marks  of  a  truly  Scriptural  Church. 

Again,  I  have  watched  the  working  of  this  Church 
and  found  its  influence  to  be  good,  and  only  good 
and  that  continually.     It  has  seemed  to  me  to  com- 


62  Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary. 

bine  in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  the  opposite  elements 
of  strength  and  flexibiUty,  It  is  neither  a  petrified 
image  of  orthodoxy,  nor  a  flaming  meteor  consuming 
itself  and  everything  it  touches  with  unhallowed  fire. 
At  once  conservative  and  progressive,  it  has  readily 
affiliated  with  every  agency  adapted  to  elevate  and 
improve  the  race,  and  as  instinctively  arrayed  itself 
against  every  demonstration  hostile  to  the  happiness 
of  mankind.  The  friend  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
it  has  gone  forward  to  their  rescue  on  emergencies 
which  awed  the  resolute  and  made  the  prudent  falter. 
Animated  by  a  robust  and  generous  patriotism,  it  has 
with  one  hand  scattered  spiritual  blessings  over  our 
land,  and  with  the  other  poured  oil  upon  the  surging 
billows  of  faction,  and  employed  its  majestic  powers 
in  holding  the  incensed  and  alienated  sections  of  the 
Union  together.  This  I  have  seen ;  and  loving  my 
country,  I  cannot  but  love  my  Church,  which  has, 
under  God,  done  so  much,  first,  to  achieve  the  inde- 
pendence of  my  country ;  secondly,  to  foster  all  its 
vital  interests  ;  and,  last  of  all,  to  preserve  its  integrity 
and  perpetuate  its  blessings. 

For  these  reasons — not  to  specify  others — I  am 
grateful  to  God,  after  twenty-five  years'  experience, 
that  He  was  pleased  to  cast  my  lot  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.     I  feel  that  "  the  lines  have  fallen  to  me  in 


Tzueiity- Fifth  Anniversaiy .  63 

pleasant  places,"  and  that  I  have  "  a  goodly  heritage." 
It  is  of  all  others  the  place  where  I  should  choose  to 
deposit  my  best  earthly  treasures.  No  human  fore- 
sight can  guard  against  every  contingency.  And  our 
beloved  Church  7nay  hereafter  become  venal  and 
apostate.  But  in  looking  over  the  country  and  re- 
viewing the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  there  is  no 
guardianship  to  which  I  would  so  soon  commit  my 
children  and  the  friends  who  are  dearest  to  me,  as 
her's.  I  believe  they  will  be  safer  there  than  any- 
where else.  I  believe  they  will  be  exposed  to  fewer 
noxious  influences,  and  surrounded  by  more  of  the 
associations  which  are  favorable  to  virtue  and  piety. 
I  believe  it  will  be  most  conducive  to  their  present 
happiness,  and  to  their  eternal  salvation — that,  so  to 
speak,  there  will  be  a  greater  probability  of  their 
getting  to  heaven,  and  of  children's  children  following 
each  other  there  from  generation  to  generation.  And, 
believing  this,  I  must  be  false  to  every  paternal  in- 
stinct, false  to  the  sacred  claims  of  those  who  may 
come  after  me  in  long  succession,  false  to  the  sainted 
dead  whose  principles  I  have  inherited,  and  false  to 
that  Saviour  whose  mercy  I  have  experienced  and 
whose  most  unworthy  minister  I  am,  if  I  should 
neglect  any  practicable  means  for  inspiring  my  own 
household   and   the   families   committed   to  my  care. 


64  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary. 

with  the  love  I  cherish  for  our  Church,  and  the  inflex- 
ible purpose  never  to  abandon  it.  And  in  this  par- 
ticular (certainly  not  in  others,)  I  may  say  without  in- 
delicacy, and  in  all  sincerity  I  do  say,  "  I  would  to 
God,  that  every  parent  in  my  congregation,  and  all 
who  hear  me  this  day,  were  both  almost  and  alto- 
gether such  as  I  am." 

I  have  glanced  at  a  topic  here  too  important  to  be 
dismissed  without  a  sentence  or  two  more — I  mean 
the  duty  of  training  up  our  children  in  the  principles 
which  we  ourselves  profess.  It  is  too  much  the  case 
in  this  age  of  precocious  childhood,  when  the  relations 
of  the  parties  seem  often  to  be  inverted,  that  children 
are  left  to  wander  away  from  the  fold  to  which  their 
parents  belong,  wherever  caprice  may  carry  them. 
Numerous  agencies  are  conspiring,  at  least  in  our 
country,  to  foster  a  premature  independence  on  the 
part  of  the  young,  and  make  them  impatient  of  all 
wholesome  control.  The  compact  family  organiza- 
tion, with  its  paternal  priesthood,  its  orderly  habits, 
its  secluded,  confidential  intercourse,  and  its  stated 
convocations  for  instruction  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
is  rudely  invaded  from  without,  and  its  defences  are 
in  imminent  danger  of  being  broken  down.  The 
whole  spirit  of  this  bustling,  officious,  money-making, 
impertinent  age,  is  hostile  to  the  very  idea  of  Home, 
and  to  all  its  sacred  duties  and  pleasures. 


Tiventy- Fifth  Anniversary.  65 

Then,  again,  this  is  a  period  of  great  latitudinari- 
anism  in  rehgion.  Everybody  wishes  to  be  deemed 
reUgious,  and  of  course,  as  the  carnal  mind  is  just  as 
much  "enmity  against  God"  as  ever,  the  only  way  in 
which  this  can  be  brought  about  is  to  bring  religion 
down  to  a  level  that  shall  make  it  palatable  to  the  un- 
renewed heart.  Truth,  therefore,  is  little  thought  of 
The  piety  which  insists  upon  the  "washing  of  re- 
generation and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  upon 
the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  atonement  upon  the 
heart  and  conscience,  upon  faith  in  the  Redeemer  as 
the  only  medium  of  pardon,  and  upon  a  holy  life — 
this  sort  of  piety  is  "too  fanatical."  A  decent  de- 
portment will  be  conceded,  and  a  sound  creed,  and  a 
punctilious  ceremonial;  but  here  you  must  pause.  If 
you  venture  further,  you  become  "precise"  and 
"puritanical." 

Now  what  are  we  to  do,  with  dangers  like  these 
threatening  our  children  on  every  hand?  Are  we  to 
let  the  w^orld  come  in  and  confound  our  domestic  ties, 
and  sweep  away  our  sons  and  daughters  into  the 
great  vortex  of  frivolity  and  impiety?  Are  we  to 
abandon  them  to  their  own  capricious  impulses,  and 
let  them  throw  themselves  into  the  stream  of  fashion- 
able formalism?  We  cannot  do  it.  That  is,  we  can- 
not do  it  without  betraying  the  most  sacred  trust 
9 


66  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary . 

God  has  confided  to  us.  We  are  bound  by  every 
consideration  of  duty  and  interest,  to  cherish  their 
household  virtues;  to  bind  them  close  to  our  hearts 
and  keep  them  there;  and,  above  all,  to  pour  the  triilh 
into  their  minds;  to  keep  them  within  the  reach  of  the 
Gospel;  to  show  them  the  excellence  of  that  system 
of  faith  and  order  which  we  hold;  and  to  train  them 
to  love  and  cherish  it  for  their  own  sake  and  for  our's. 
If  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  shown  us  anything  more 
of  the  power  and  preciousness  of  this  divine  system, 
let  us  manifest  it  by  teaching  our  families  to  prize  it 
also.  If  it  has  been  a  blessing  to  us,  it  will  be  no  less 
a  blessinof  to  them.  To  lodo-e  it  in  their  hearts  in  its 
transforming  and  saving  efficacy  is  God's  prerogative 
not  our's.  But  we  can,  ordinarily,  keep  them  from 
castinof  it  off  We  can  do  much  to  link  them  in  in- 
violable  bonds  to  our  beloved  Church,  to  surround 
them  with  influences  favorable  to  their  conversion, 
and,  by  God's  blessing,  to  prepare  them  for  a  useful 
life,  a  peaceful  death,  and  a  glorious  immortality. 

You  will  readily  suppose  that  on  the  recurrence  of 
an  anniversary  like  this,  my  own  mind  reverts  with  in- 
terest and  anxiety  to  the  general  tone  of  the  jjtinistrations 
with  which  we  have  been  occupied  here.  To  express 
all  that  I  feel  in  recalling  the  deficiencies  and  weak- 
nesses, the  mistakes  and  sins,  which  have  marred  these 


Twenty -FiftJi  Anniversary.  67 

services  and  impaired  their  usefulness,  would  neither 
be  decorous  nor  profitable.  I  will  only  say  that  there 
can  be  no  individual  here  whose  impressions  on  this 
point  are  stronger  than  my  own ;  and  certainly  none 
whose  retrospect  of  the  Sabbaths  we  have  spent  to- 
gether can  awaken  so  many  sad  and  reproachful 
emotions.  But  the  scene  is  not  all  dark.  It  is  an  un- 
speakable satisfaction  to  me  to  reflect  that,  with  all  its 
imperfections,  the  preaching  you  have  listened  to  has 
been,  not  deism,  not  philosophy,  not  mere  morality, 
but  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  According  to  my  ability^ 
I  have  set  forth  before  you  that  system  of  truth  of 
which  I  have  just  been  speaking,  as  the  burden  of 
prophets  and  apostles,  the  glory  of  the  Reformed 
Churches,  and  the  peculiar  jewel  of  our  own.  When 
I  came  to  you  "  in  weakness  and  in  fear,  and  in  much 
trembling,"  it  was  with  the  determination  to  "know 
nothing  among  you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  cruci- 
fied." I  have  never  interpreted  this  to  mean  that  a 
Pastor  was  to  confine  himself  to  the  iteration  of  the 
Saviour's  name,  or  to  the  exposition  of  a  few  leading 
doctrines  of  the  New  Testament.  I  regard  it  rather 
as  importing  that  the  preacher  Is  to  take  his  stand  at 
the  cross,  and  to  bring  forward  the  whole  circle  of  re- 
vealed truth  as  surveyed  from  that  position.  Such  I 
find  to  have  been  the  apostle's  own  explanation  of  the 


68  Tiuenty-FiftJi  Anniversary. 

rule,  as  interpreted  by  his  practice.  For  there  is 
scarcely  a  topic  in  divinity  or  in  morals  which  he  has 
not  handled;  and  they  who  would  circumscribe  the 
pulpit  to  a  few  common-places  in  the  evangelical 
system,  will  appeal  in  vain  to  Paul  for  an  authority. 
How  difficult  a  task  it  is  "rightly  to  divide  the  word 
of  truth,"  is  known  only  to  those  who  have  attempted 
it.  Examine  the  Bible.  See  what  an  inexhaustible 
treasure-house  it  is,  in  the  extent  and  variety,  in  the 
grandeur  and  importance,  of  its  themes.  Consider 
its  histories  and  biographies,  its  prophecies  and  doc- 
trines, its  precepts  and  promises;  then  look  at  the 
endless  diversities  of  human  character  and  condition; 
the  multifarious  variety  of  wants  and  woes,  of  dangers 
and  duties,  of  relations  and  responsibilities,  which 
meet  often  in  a  single  congregation ;  and  decide 
whether  it  can  be  a  trivial  matter  so  to  select  and 
adjust  the  topics  of  the  Bible  as  to  insure  to  every 
individual  of  this  mass  "his  portion  in  due  season," 
and  to  bring  about  in  a  protracted  ministr}-  the  best 
possible  results.  All  that  can  be  fairly  exacted  of  a 
Pastor  is,  that  he  should  aim  at  this,  and  do  his  best 
to  accomplish  it.  That  your  Pastor  has  grievously 
failed  in  very  many  particulars,  he  has  not  the  least 
question.  But  I  liavc  endeavored  to  preach  to  you 
the  Gospel  of  Christ;  and  "I  have  showed  you  and 


Tivcnty-FiftJi  Anniversary.  ()0 

have  taught  you  pubhcly  and  from  house  to  house,  testi- 
fying- to  you  all,  repentance  toward  God  and  faith 
toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

For  the  candor  and  kindness  with  which  you  have 
listenedt  o  these  instructions,  I  owe  you  many  thanks. 
For  the  efficacy  which  it  has  pleaseci  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church  to  impart  to  them,  neither  you  nor  I  can 
be  sufficiently  grateful.  We  have  reason, — I  certainly 
have, — to  be  deeply  humbled,  that  these  twenty-five 
years  have  passed  away  and  left  no  more  fruit.  But 
some  fruit  there  is;  and  for  this  we  may  lay  our  thank- 
offering  upon  His  altar.  You  can  recall  "times  of  re- 
freshing from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,"  when  you 
felt  this  to  be  the  house  of  God  and  the  very  gate  of 
heaven.  To  many  among  you  this  is  consecrated 
ground.  It  will  be  said  of  our  humble  church  here- 
after, "This  and  that  man  was  born  in  her.  The  Lord 
shall  count  when  he  wTiteth  up  the  people,  that  this 
man  was  born  there."  Here  God  has  met  you. 
Here,  when  you  came  up  to  his  courts  careless  and 
giddy,  His  spirit  opened  your  hearts  to  the  truth,  set 
your  sins  in  order  before  your  eyes,  pierced  your 
bosoms  with  anguish,  and  sent  you  home  with  the  cry, 
"God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner!"  And  here  he  has 
again  met  you,  taken  off  your  burdens,  and  dismissed 
you    with   that    peace   which   passeth   understanding. 


70  Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary. 

This  has  been  the  place  of  your  espousals  to  Christ 
and  here  you  have  for  the  first  time  sat  down  at  his 
table,  and  commemorated  his  dying  love. 

But  no  pen  may  attempt  to  delineate  the  scenes 
which  must  occur  in  any  church  where  the  Gospel  is 
preached,  and  which  have  doubtless  occurred  here, 
during  a  period  of  twenty-five  years.  The  influences 
proper  to  a  place  like  this,  are  too  powerful  not  to 
tell  upon  the  characters  of  those  who  are  brought 
within  their  reach.  What  fierce  inward  conflicts  have 
there  been  here  between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit ! 
What  upbraidings  of  conscience  !  What  stifled  con- 
victions !  What  struggles  against  the  truth  !  What 
wrestlings  with  sin  !  What  noble  resolves  !  What 
cries  for  deliverance  !  What  yearnings  after  pardon  ! 
What  anxious  looks  towards  Calvary !  What 
triumphs  of  Satan  over  awakened  souls  !  What  victo- 
ries of  contrite  and  believing  penitents  over  Satan  ! 
How  many  led  captive  by  sin !  How  many  con- 
querors! 

Here,  in  the  sanctuary,  is  the  great  battle-ground 
on  which  heaven  and  hell  are  contesting  the  posses- 
sion of  the  soul : — 

"  The  soul  of  man — Jehovah's  breath — 
That  keeps  two  worlds  at  strife ; 
Hell  moves  beneath  to  work  its  death, 
Heaven  stoops  to  give  it  life !  " 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary .  71 

Nor  does  the  conflict  cease  with  the  surrender  of 
the  soul  to  Christ.  The  whole  inward  life  of  the 
Christian  is  compounded  of  hopes  and  fears,  joys  and 
sorrows,  sinning  and  repenting,  doubting  and  trust- 
ing, striving  and  halting,  cleaving  to  earth  and  soar- 
ing heavenward.  And  the  sanctuary  is,  of  all  others, 
the  spot  where  the  adverse  elements  which  enter  into 
his  character  are  stimulated  into  intense  activity,  and 
produce  their  most  decisive  effects  upon  his  conduct. 

For  twenty  five  years  these  latent  processes,  seen 
only  by  that  eye  v/hich  sees  all  thmgs,  have  been 
going  on  here,  in  hundreds  of  bosoms.  Let  God  be 
praised  that  there  have  been  results  which  we  can  all 
think  of  with  complacency.  He  has  met  the  hungry 
here  and  fed  them  with  the  bread  of  life.  He  has 
given  to  mourners  in  Zion  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil 
of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment  of  praise  for 
the  spirit  of  heaviness.  He  has  given  strength  to  the 
weak,  and  to  them  that  had  no  might  he  has  increased 
strength.  He  has  sought  that  which  was  lost,  and 
brought  again  that  which  was  driven  away,  and  bound 
up  that  which  was  broken,  and  strengthened  that 
which  was  sick,  and  made  them  and  the  places  round 
about  his  hill  a  blessingf.  He  has  extracted  the  stingr 
from  wounded  consciences,  bound  up  the  bruised 
reed,  and  revived  the  smokinor  flax.     He  has  enabled 


72  Twcuty-Fifth  Aniiiversary. 

mourners  to  say,  where  they  thought  they  never 
could  say  it,  "  Thy  will  be  done  !"  He  has  given  his 
people  strength  to  endure  trials  which  they  had  be- 
lieved must  crush  them.  He  has  disclosed  the  pillar 
of  cloud  and  of  fire  to  the  perplexed  and  timorous. 
He  has  laid  his  hand  upon  the  presumptuous,  and 
held  them  back  from  sins  which  must  have  destroyed 
them.  He  has  brought  scoffers  and  sensualists  and 
washed  them  from  their  pollution  in  the  fountain 
opened  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness.  He  has  shown 
the  amiable  and  the  moral  the  insufficiency  of  their 
own  righteousness  to  bear  the  scrutin)-  of  a  holy  God. 
He  has  stirred  up  parents  to  greater  fidelity  and 
children  to  greater  reverence,  and  opened  in  nume- 
rous families  sources  of  pure  and  rational  enjoyment 
such  as  they  had  never  dreamed  of.  He  has  touched 
the  hearts  of  young  men,  turned  them  aside  from 
their  chosen  occupations,  and  sent  them  forth  one 
after  another  as  ambassadors  for  Christ. 

These,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  benign  offices  he 
is  carrying  forward  here,  as  in  other  churches.  And 
when  we  reflect  upon  the  results  involved  in  these 
merciful  dispensations,  continued  among  a  people 
without  interruption  through  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
or  for  thirteen  hundred  Sabbaths,  the  children  of  Zion 
may  well  "  be  joyful  in  their  King."    Like  the  Hebrews 


Twe7ity-Fifth  Anniversary.  73 

at  the  dedication  of  their  temple,  you  may  "  go  to  your 
tents  joyful  and  glad  of  heart,  for  all  the  goodness 
that  the  Lord  has  done  for  Israel  his  people." 

Standing  where  we  do  to-day,  it  is  impossible  not 
to  call  to  mind  our  trials  as  well  as  our  mercies.  The 
ministry  I  have  fulfilled  among  you,  as  already  re- 
marked, has  not  been  without  its  interruptions,  some 
of  which  have  threatened  to  bring  it  to  a  close.  But 
in  your  view,  my  attacks  of  sickness  have  been  simply 
Providental  affliction's  which  called  for  sympathy  and 
succor ;  and  you  have  not  only  submitted  to  them 
without  complaining,  but  made  every  recurrence  of 
the  trial  an  occasion  for  heaping  upon  me  fresh  kind- 
nesses. I  repeat  that  I  am  not  insensible  either  to 
your  affection,  or  to  the  mercy  of  our  Heavenly  Father 
in  restoring  me  to  health  so  often  and  permitting  me 
to  resume  my  work.  There  is  no  employment  in  this 
world  which  I  love  so  much  as  preaching  the  Gospel; 
no  office  which  I  feel  to  be  so  honorable  or  so  useful 
as  that  of  a  Christian  Pastor.  And  I  am  never  laid 
aside  from  its  duties  temporarily,  without  being  filled 
with  sorrow  in  reviewinor  the  manner  in  which  I  have 
met  my  responsibilities,  and  penetrated  with  gratitude 
to  God  for  the  favor  he  has  shown  to  my  unworthy 
labors.  Nor  do  I  regard  it  as  the  least  memorable 
token  of  his  paternal  care,  that  the  congregation  has 

lO 


74  Tzve7tty- Fifth  Anniversary. 

been  kept  in  the  same  united  and  flourishing  condition 
in  my  absence,  as  when  I  have  been  with  you. 

But  your  trials — and  especially  your  bereavements — 
how  they  come  thronging  around  us  on  an  occasion 
like  this.  What  a  chasm  has  this  quarter  of  a  century 
made  in  the  congregation  assembled  here  on  the 
evening  of  the  8th  of  November,  1833?  Here  and 
there,  as  I  look  along  these  aisles,  I  meet  a  friendly 
face  which  greeted  me,  a  stranger,  then;  but,  with  a 
very  few  exceptions,  the  gentlemen  who  sat  at  the 
heads  of  these  pews  have  disappeared.  Numerous 
families  have  been  entirely  broken  up  by  death.  And 
some  of  you  have  had  breach  upon  breach  in  your 
fireside  circles,  until  every  step  of  the  way  to  the 
cemeteries  has  been  wet  with  your  tears.  The  mor- 
tality already  mentioned  has  included  all  classes  and 
ages;  death  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  We  have 
seen  many  hoary-headed  saints  gathered  into  the 
garner,  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  in  his  sea- 
son. Infants  that  have  lingered  here  just  long  enough 
to  entwine  themslves  around  loving  hearts;  daughters 
in  the  pride  and  loveliness  of  opening  womanhood; 
wives  whose  nuptial  ceremonies  proved  the  harbinger 
of  their  funeral  pageants ;  mothers  whose  clustering 
virtues  shed  the  radiance  of  heaven  over  happy 
households  ;  young  men  panting  for  the  contests  of 


Tweitty-FiftJi  Anniversary.  t  o 

life,  like  the  war-horse  for  the  battle;  and  men  of 
business  immersed  in  the  cares  of  an  extended  traffic — 
all  have  vanished  from  our  eyes,  and  the  places  which 
knew  them  know  them  no  more.  By  far  the  larger 
number  of  those  who  are  gone  I  have  visited  in  their 
sickness — not  to  speak  again  of  the  frequent  in- 
stances in  which  I  have  been  called  to  minister  con- 
solation or  instruction  to  strangers  whom  Providence 
has  brought  here  to  die  at  our  hotels.  Death  has  be- 
come  a  familiar  spectacle  to  me;  and  I  have  seen  it 
under  many  forms.  I  have  seen  it  when  it  came  like 
a  demon  attended  by  the  furies  of  hell.  And  I  have 
seen  it  when  it  came  like  an  angel  of  mercy  with  its 
retinue  of  seraphs  to  convoy  the  departing  spirit  to 
the  skies.  I  have  watched  the  lamp  of  life  go  out, 
when  the  harrowing  thought  has  struck  a  chill  through 
me  that,  in  all  probability,  life  and  /lope  must  expire 
together.  And  I  have  watched  its  flickering  flame 
with  the  joyful  assurance  that  after  a  momentary 
eclipse  it  would  be  rekindled  before  the  sapphire 
throne.  I  have  stood  by  the  dying  when  it  was  too 
painful  to  be  endured,  except  under  an  inexorable 
sense  of  duty.  And  again  I  have  stood  by  the  dying 
when  the  chamber  of  death  seemed  like  the  very 
vestibule  of  heaven.  It  has  been  my  allotment,  by 
turns,  to  teach  in  the  presence  of  death,  and  to  be 


76  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary. 

taught ;  to  point  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  to  have  the 
Lamb   of  God    held    forth  to   me ;   to   preach  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified,  and  to  hear  Christ  crucified 
preached  with  an  eloquence  and  a  power  unknown 
to  my  poor  ministrations  ;  to  encourage  desponding 
souls,  and  to  see  some  "  Great  Heart"  going  forward 
to    the   last   encounter  with    a   majestic    faith    which 
gave  certain  presage  of  victory.     For  the  most  part, 
those  who  had  borne  an  exemplary  Christian  charac- 
ter have  died  in  peace.     Even  w'here  they  have  long 
had  a  peculiar  horror  of  death,  and  felt  that  they  must 
be  overwhelmed  in  the  waves,  they  have  been  merci- 
fully relieved  of  this  fear  as  the  hour  approached,  and 
at  length,  on  going  down  into  the  river,  the  water  has 
been  so  low  and  still  that  they  have  passed  over  all 
but  dry-shod.     To  my  own   mind   this  is  one  of  the 
most  expressive  and  touching  of  all  the  tokens  we 
have    of    the    faithfulness    and    tenderness    of    our 
Heavenly   Father — his    condescending   kindness    to- 
wards humble  and  doubting  Christians  in  the  prospect 
of  death.     It  is  a  spectacle  of  true  moral  sublimity  to 
see  such  a  Christian — a  delicate  and  refined  female, 
perhaps — losing  her  timidity  as  she  loses  her  strength, 
gaining  confidence  amidst  the  decays  of  nature,  her 
faith  waxing  stronger  as  she  draws  nearer  to  eternity, 
and  finally  exclaiming,  as  she  grapples  with  the  last 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary.  77 

enemy,  "  Thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  me  the  vic- 
tory, through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord !"  I  know  of 
nothing  adapted  in  an  equal  degree  with  scenes  hke 
this,  to  confirm  our  faith  in  the  divine  authority  of  our 
holy  rehgion,  or  to  arm  the  beUever  against  the  fear 
of  death.  I  would  counsel  you,  therefore,  not  to  shun 
such  scenes.  There  are  lessons  there  for  you,  which 
you  will  get  nowhere  else. 

"  The  chamber  where  the  good  man  meets  his  fate, 
Is  privileg'd  beyond  the  common  walk 
Of  virtuous  life,  quite  in  the  verge  of  heav'n." 

And  when  your  turn  comes  to  meet  the  destroyer,  it 
may  greatly  nerve  your  faith  and  hope  to  have  fre- 
quented this  "  chamber,"  and  seen  how  God  has 
supported  even  the  feeblest  of  his  children  and  brought 
them  off  more  than  conquerors. 

But  there  is  one  aspect  of  this  subject  peculiarly 
solemn  to  the  mind  of  a  Pastor.  He  looks  over  his 
congregation  and  finds,  it  may  be,  that  several  hundred 
of  the  individuals  who  once  sat  under  his  ministry 
are  now  in  eternity.  What  report  have  they  borne 
with  them  as  to  his  fidelity?  Did  he  set  life  and 
death  before  them  ?  Did  he  admonish  them  of  their 
sins  ?  Did  he  tell  them  what  they  must  do  to  be 
saved  ?      Did  he,  on  all  fit  occasions,  urcre  them  to 


78  Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary, 

make  their  peace  with  God  ?  Did  he  caution  them 
against  false  grounds  of  confidence?  Did  he  endeavor 
to  estabhsh  them  in  the  truth  and  build  them  up  in 
holiness?  Did  he  labor  to  bring  out  their  resources, 
to  show  them  how  they  might  be  useful  and  how  they 
might  make  the  most  of  their  influence  in  promoting 
the  success  of  the  Gospel  ? 

These  are  very  serious,  as  they  are  very  natural 
questions.  The  dead  are  now  beyond  his  reach,  and 
the  Ineradicable  impress  of  eternity  is  upon  them. 
Happy  is  that  Pastor  whose  conscience  acquits  him 
of  blame  In  this  matter  ;  who  feels,  in  respect  to  all 
who  are  gone,  that  he  did  everything  he  could  for  their 
salvation.  Alas,  my  brethren,  who  of  us,  Pastor  or 
people,  can  say  this  concerning  the  dead  ?  How 
many  are  gone  with  whom  we  ought  to  have  labored 
more  to  bring  them  to  Christ  ?  How  easy  would  it 
have  been  to  speak  to  them  oftener  on  the  subject,  to 
place  some  suitable  book  in  their  hands,  to  Invite 
them  to  the  sanctuary,  to  remove  their  prejudices 
against  religion,  to  do  a  score  of  things,  any  one  of 
which  might,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  have  been  useful 
to  them. 

I  feel  all  this  as  a  Pastor.  There  are  doubtless 
parents  here  who  feel  it  keenly  as  to  their  deceased 
children.     Every  one  must  feel  it  In  respect  to  com- 


Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary.  79 

panions  and  friends. who  have  been  summoned  away 
in  an  unexpected  hour.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  the 
lesson  is  not  lost  upon  us.  We  may  go  to  the  graves 
of  the  departed  and  bemoan  our  unfaithfulness  to 
their  souls;  but  the  best  tribute  we  can  pay  them  is  to 
perform  our  duty  to  the  living.  There  are  others  still 
around  us  who  may  die  as  suddenly  and  with  as  little 
preparation.  These  we  can  reach.  And  if  the  slum- 
berers  could  burst  their  cerements  and  come  back, 
they  would  bid  us  cease  from  wasting  our  posthumous 
regrets  upon  them,  and  address  ourselves  to  the 
saving  of  those  for  whom  salvation  is  yet  possible. 

But  I  trespass  too  long  upon  your  patience.  A 
single  thought  more,  and  I  have  done. 

The  past  and  the  future  blend  imperceptibly  to- 
gether. While  we  review  the  years  that  are  gone, 
the  imagination  busies  itself  about  the  years  that  are 
to  come.  On  the  evening  of  that  ordination  service, 
the  scroll  on  which  the  events  of  this  quarter-century 
were  to  be  recorded  was,  to  our  eyes,  of  virgin  white- 
ness :  no  mortal  hand  would  have  presumed  to  draw 
the  faintest  hair-stroke  of  the  annals  to  be  inscribed 
upon  it.  To  God's  eye  it  was  all  written  over  then, 
as  it  is  now  to  us.  But  who  could  have  conceived 
what  characters  it  was  to  reveal  ?     Who  amone  that 


80  Twenty- Fifth  Anniversary. 

vast  assemblaoe  could  have  believed,  had  the  idea 
been  suggested,  that  twenty-five  years  would  work 
such  changes  in  this  congregation  as  those  we  have 
been  contemplating  ?  Another  scroll  lies  before  us 
to-day,  unsullied  as  the  Alpine  snow.  It  is  to  receive 
the  history  of  these  coming  years,  and  bear  it  to  the 
judgment  seat,  and  then  onward  through  eternity. 
When,  at  the  close  of  another  quarter-century,  that 
too  faithful  chronicle  shall  be  spread  before  the  con- 
gregation then  worshipping  in  this  house,  it  will  doubt- 
less be  like  the  one  we  have  been  reading.  It  will 
tell  of  changes  possibly  as  great  as  those  which  are 
past.  It  will  relate  the  joys  and  the  sorrows  of  many 
a  household  ;  the  dispersion  of  families  ;  the  achieve- 
ments of  sin  and  the  victories  of  grace.  It  may  state 
that  of  the  four  hundred  and  fifty  communicants  now 
here,  only  fifty  remain  in  the  Church  ;  and  that  of  the 
families  to  which  those  fifty  belong,  there  are  not  four 
which  have  escaped  the  inroads  of  death.  It  may 
speak  of  times  of  refreshing  when  many  were  born 
again ;  of  other  colonies  gone  forth  to  plant  new 
churches ;  and  of  young  men  here  dedicated  to  God 
in  baptism,  who  have  become  able  and  godly  ministers 
of  the  New  Testament.  It  may  contain  some  humble 
memorial  of  successive  Pastors,  who  have  stood  here 
and  published  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom. 


Twenty- Fifth  Anniversaiy.  81 

There  is  an  absolute  certainty  that  many  who  are 
now  here  will  be  written  in  that  record  as  among  the 
dead.  There  is  little  probability  that  I  shall  be  here 
to  witness  its  unrolling.  Even  with  fewer  years,  my 
precarious  health  would  forbid  that  expectation.  But 
I  am  willing  to  leave  that  event  with  Him  who  has 
crowned  my  life  with  unnumbered  mercies.  My  times 
are  in  His  hand.  Goodness  and  mercy  have  followed 
me  all  the  days  of  my  life;  and  I  cannot  distrust  Him 
for  the  future.  But  I  must  and  do  distrust  myself 
I  fear  for  my  own  soul.  And,  my  beloved  people, 
when  I  think  of  the  subtlety  of  sin,  and  the  mighty 
hindrances  which  obstruct  our  salvation,  I  fear  for 
yours  also.  I  tremble  at  times,  under  the  weight  of 
this  burden  which  God  has  laid  upon  me.  I  shrink 
with  anguish  from  the  thought  of  meeting  you  at  the 
bar  of  Christ.  I  entreat  you  for  my  sake  if  you  can 
be  heedless  about  yourselves,  to  be  reconciled  to  God. 
Whatever  may  be  my  lot  in  that  day,  wherever  I  may 
stand,  I  cannot  bear  to  see  any  of  yoiL  at  the  left 
hand  of  Christ.  Oh  give  yourselves  to  the  Saviour 
while  you  may.  And  cease  not  to  pray  for  inc,  that  I 
may  be  faithful  unto  death,  and  so,  through  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ,  "may  have  right  to  the 
tree  of  life,"  and  may  with  yoic  "enter  in  through  the 
gates  into  the  city." 


1 1 


SERMON   II. 


"  And  thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord 
THY  God  led  thee  these  forty  years." — Deut.  viii.  2. 

Had  I  consulted  simply  my  private  feelings,  this  day 
would  have  passed  without  any  public  commemoration. 
But  I  was  given  to  understand  that  you  were  expect- 
ing me  to  take  some  notice  of  it,  and  I  surrender  my 
personal  preferences  to  your  wishes — the  more  so,  as 
my  own  life  has,  during  "these  forty  years,"  been  so 
blended  with  the  life  of  this  Church,  that  neither 
could  be  considered  apart  from  the  other. 

I  come  to  the  Sanctuary,  then,  to  greet  this  Anni- 
versary with  two  Psalms  upon  my  lips,  a  Psalm  of 
thanksgiving  and  a  Psalm  of  penitence.  It  is  impossi- 
ble for  me  to  review  the  countless  mercies  of  my 
pastoral  life  without  exclaiming,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy 
name."  Equally  impossible  is  it  for  me  to  recall  the 
countless  deficiencies  and  sins  of  my  pastorate,  with- 
out crying  in  deep  contrition,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me 
a  sinner !  " 

The  uppermost  thought  in  your  breasts  as. we 
enter  upon  these  services  will  be — "  How  remarkable 


8-4  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

it  is  that  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel  should  remain  with 
the  same  congregation  for  forty  years."  It  is  remark- 
able. Only  a  few  ministers  are  spared  to  exercise  their 
sacred  functions  for  so  long  a  period.  And  of  these, 
perhaps,  not  more  than  one  in  a  thousand  knows  but 
a  single  installation.  In  my  "  Quarter-Century  Dis- 
course "'  of  November  7th,  185S,  the  circumstances 
attending  my  call  and  settlement  were  minutely  de- 
tailed ;  as  were  all  the  facts  pertaining  to  the  erection 
of  this  edifice,  and  the  organization  of  the  Church  in 
the  year  1829.  Referring  you  to  that  sermon,  it  must 
suffice  to  say  here,  that  this  relation  has  been  continued 
so  long,  simply  because  the  time  has  never  yet  come 
when  we  could  agree  to  sever  it.  On  my  part,  I  have 
had  the  common  experience  of  Pastors  in  the  way  of 
solicitations  to  exchange  my  field  of  labor  for  some 
other — emanatincr  now  from  Churches,  now  from 
Theological  Seminaries,  and  anon  from  State  Uni- 
versities and  other  institutions  of  learning.  With  a 
single  exception,  all  questions  of  this  sort  have  been 
disposed  of  sub  silentio,  without  consulting  you  or  in- 
voking light,  as  is  the  custom  of  the  day,  from  the 
public  press.  The  exception  was  one  which  addressed 
itself  no  less  directly  to  you  than  to  myself,  and  you 
were  not  slow  in  acting  upon  it.* 

*  See  Appendix. 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  85 

On  your  part  this  union  has  been  preserved  in  the 
face  of  obstacles  which,  with  many  another  congre- 
gation, would  have  brought  it  to  an  early  termination. 
For  during  my  whole  incumbency  I  have  been  strug- 
gling with  precarious  health:  not  always  an  invalid, 
sometimes  in  full  vigor  for  years  together,  but  re- 
peatedly laid  aside  for  months,  or  equal  only  to  half 
work — a  great  trial  to  any  Pastor  and  people.  But 
you  have  refused  to  interpret  these  interruptions  as 
any  valid  reason  for  dissolving  the  tie  which  united 
us.  You  have  twice  returned  my  proffered  resig- 
nation into  my  own  hands,'-'  with  assurances  ot  your 
generous  sympathy  and  unimpaired  affection.  And 
to  crown  all,  you  have  brought  hither  my  beloved 
brother  and  co-pastorf  to  share  my  work,  to  lighten 
my  burdens,  to  supply  my  lack  of  service,  to  cheer 
me  with  his  fraternal  counsel  and  aid,  and  to  help  you 
on  your  journey  heavenward  by  his  faithful  ministra- 
tions. 

Thus  has  it  come  to  pass,  through  the  merciful 
ordering  of  Divine  Providence,  that  we  are  to-day 
celebrating  the  Fortieth  Anniversary  of  our  Union. 
The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is,  in  my  judgment,  the 
highest  privilege  that  man  can  enjoy  in  this  world. 

*  See  Appendix. 

•j-  The  Rev.  Louis  R.  Fox. 


8G  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

To  be  allowed  this  privilege  for  the  space  of  two  score 
years,  appears  a  distinction  and  a  blessing  almost  too 
lofty-  and  too  priceless  to  be  conferred  upon  any  worm 
of  the  dust.  But  that  no  one  wjio  is  clothed  with  this 
office  may  be  exalted  above  measure,  there  is  linked 
with  the  pre-eminent  honor  a  responsibility-  so  ineffa- 
ble, that  no  conscientious  man  could  for  a  moment 
think  of  accepting  the  trust  unless  he  were  sure  that 
God  had  called  him  to  it  and  would  sustain,  him  under 
it.  I  cherish  the  humble  conviction  that  it  was  His 
voice  that  summoned  me  to  this  field  of  labor,  and 
His  authority  that  has  kept  me  here ;  and,  beyond 
question,  if  the  very  imperfect  tillage  laid  out  upon 
this  soil  has  yielded  any  fruit,  it  has  been.  Beloved, 
because  "ye  are  God's  husbandry^,"  and  He  has 
smiled  upon  the  planting  and  the  watering,  and 
gathered  in  the  sheaves. 

What  these  sheaves  have  been,  no  figures  can 
adequately  express.  But  as  you  will  be  looking  for 
figures  to-day,  it  may  be  stated,  that  the  additions  to 
the  Church  during  these  forty  years  have  been  1,504, 
to-wit :  on  profession,  846  ;  by  certificate,  658.  Of 
the  292  communicants  who  welcomed  me  at  my 
ordination,  the  names  of  thirteen  still  remain  upon 
the  register ;  but  there  are  only  six  in  actual  attend- 
ance upon  our  worship.     I  have  solemnized  the  rite 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  87 

of  marriage  301  times  ;  and  administered  the  ordi- 
nance of  Baptism  to  914  persons,  viz.,  to  154  adults 
and  760  children.  There  are  no  data  by  which  to 
ascertain  the  number  of  children  connected  with  our 
Church  and  Mission  Sunday-Schools  during  this 
period :  it  would  be  safe  to  estimate  the  total  at  not 
less  than  fifteen  thousand.  Not  to  attempt  any 
financial  summary,  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  this  con- 
gregation has  always  been  honorably  distinguished 
for  its  Christian  liberality,  and  that  during  the  past 
year  you  have  contributed  to  benevolent  objects  about 
^25,000.  Our  Mission-School  was  never,  during  the 
thirty  years  of  its  existence,  in  a  more  flourishing  con- 
dition than  it  is  to-day.  And  the  commodious  and 
beautiful  Chapel  you  are  erecting  for  its  accommoda- 
tion, will  be  at  once  a  fitting  "  Memorial  "  of  the  loved 
and  honored  dead,  and  a  sphere  of  permanent  and 
grateful  Christian  labor  for  the  living. 

In  the  department  of  "  Dorcas  and  Missionary 
work,"  this  Church  has  always  maintained  a  pre- 
eminence among  the  four  thousand  churches  of  our 
denomination.  Since  the  year  1844,  you  have  sent 
to  the  faithful  Missionaries  in  our  frontier  states  and 
elsewhere,  two  hundred  and  fifty  valuable  boxes  of 
clothing,  worth,  at  a  very  moderate  computation,  sixty 
thousand  dollars,  and,  in  the  comfort  and  encourage- 


88  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

ment  ministered  to  these  self-denying  brethren,  worth 
more  than  you  or  I  could  well  conceive. 

The  colony  we  sent  out  in  April,  1856,  to  found  the 
"West  Spruce  Street  Church,"  has  made  its  own  re- 
cord. With  such  reluctance  did  those  excellent 
brethren  leave  us,  that  their  final  consent  was  yielded 
only  on  the  condition  that  the  Pastor  of  the  mother 
Church  should  divide  his  Sabbath  ministrations  equally 
between  the  two  pulpits.  And  this  arrangement  was 
continued  until  an  illness  with  which  I  was  visited,  and 
other  circumstances,  brought  it  to  a  termination. 
Most  gratifying  is  it  to  observe  the  prosperity  with 
which  God  has  crowned  this  enterprise.  The  thirty- 
four  original  members  have  grown  to  527  ;  they  re- 
ceive large  accessions  annually  ;  their  contributions 
to  religious  objects  the  past  year  amount  to  17,000 
dollars  ;  and,  led  by  their  excellent  Pastor,  they  are 
manifold  and  efficient  in  their  labors  for  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel  at  home  and  abroad.  Had  this  con- 
gregation nothing  else  to  show  for  its  stewardship,  it 
might  point  with  gratitude  to  God  to  its  agency  in  ' 
establishing  the  West  Spruce  Street  Church. 

It  might  gratify  you  to  know  the  sum  total  of  your 
contributions  to  religious  and  charitable  objects,  so 
far  as  the  same  have  been  put  on  record,  but  I  have 
no  head  for  statistics.     Nor  would  it  be  possible  to 


Fo7^tietJi  Amiiversmy.  8*.) 

formulate  in  figures,  the  history  of  a  congregation 
Hke  this.  A  perfect  skeleton  is  not  a  man.  The  real 
life  of  a  church  is  to  be  estimated  by  quite  another 
standard — can,  in  fact,  be  fully  measured  only  by  the 
eye  of  Omniscience.  One  or  two  things  which  lie 
upon  the  surface  are  these. 

Great  cities  are  the  centres  of  wealth,  of  intelligence, 
and  of  power.  They  control,  under  God,  the  policy 
of  cabinets  and  the  destinies  of  nations.  You  have 
your  place  in  the  heart  of  one  of  these  cities.  I  know 
of  no  church  which  has  more  fitly  represented,  in 
happy  combination,  the  social  worth,  the  commercial 
integrity,  the  high  professional  ability,  and  the  patient, 
conscientious,  God-fearing  industry  of  this  commu- 
nity. Could  its  long  catalogue  of  names  be  unrolled 
here,  it  would  require  no  further  demonstration  to 
satisfy  you  that  the  Church  has,  for  these  forty  years, 
been  a  beneficent  power  in  our  city  not  only,  but  in 
our  country.  Its  influence  has  told  auspiciously  upon 
the  material  prosperity,  the  mercantile  stability,  the 
various  culture,  and  both  the  medical  and  the  legal 
fame  of  Philadelphia.  And  without  cavil,  it  has  played 
no  secondary  part  in  founding  and  carrying  forward 
those  countless  Charities  which  have  conferred  a  last- 
ing renown  upon  our  city. 

A  kindred  fact  deserves  notice.     At  the  commence- 

12 


90  Fortieth  Annivej^sary. 

ment  of  the  present  pastorate  this  was  a  frontier 
church.  To-day  the  great  mass  of  our  population  is 
North  and  West  of  us.  The  twenty-seven  Presbyte- 
rian Churches  of  1833,  have  become  sixty-one,  the  fif- 
teen Pastors,  fifty-two,  and  the  5,935  communicants, 
18,300;  with  a  total  of  contributions  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  for  the  year  1872,  of  ^758,000.  Many  of  these 
new  churches  have  recruited  themselves  at  our  ex- 
pense. They  have  somehow  discovered  that  the 
Christian  men  and  women  trained  here  were  worth 
having;  and  no  undue  modesty  has  restrained  them 
from  whispering  in  their  ears  that  scriptural  appeal, 
"  Come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help  us  ! "  And  they 
have  gone — earnest,  faithful  disciples,  and  you  may 
find  them  now  carrying  out  for  the  edification  and 
comfort  of  the  churches  of  their  adoption,  the  lessons 
of  faith  and  love  they  learned  at  the  Master's  feet 
while  in  the  ancient  homestead.  Did  we  resist  their 
departure  ?  Never  in  a  single  instance.  Among  them 
have  been  some  whom  it  was,  to  your  Pastor  at  least, 
a  sore  personal  trial  to  give  up,  and  whose  places 
in  our  own  church  could  not  be,  and  have  not  been 
filled.  But  who  are  we  that  we  could  withstand  God  ? 
Not  to  speak  of  the  selfishness  of  the  policy,  how 
great  must  have  been  the  criminality  of  discountenan- 
cing the  removal  of  these  excellent  brethren  when  the 


Fo7dieth  Anniversary.  01 

Master  Himself  was  calling  them  to  other  and  wider 
fields  of  labor.  Rather  should  we  rejoice  that  He 
had  put  it  in  our  power  to  aid  in  nourishing  the  vitality 
of  these  younger  churches,  that  so,  by  and  by,  they 
may  be  in  a  condition  to  do  the  same  thing  for  feeble 
congregations  that  will  claim  their  sympathy.  Not 
to  enlarge  upon  the  question,  it  will  be  seen  how  the 
life  of  our  own  church  has  interwoven  itself  with  the 
lives  of  other  churches,  just  as  intermarriages  blend 
the  history  of  one  family  with  others,  so  that  to  learn 
what  any  one  household  has  done  of  good  or  ill,  you 
must  not  only  gather  up  the  records  of  the  parent 
stock,  but  follow  all  the  sons  and  daughters  to  their 
separate  homes  and  see  what  has  happened  there. 

This  thought  has  a  still  broader  side.  A  metro- 
politan church  reaches,  in  the  lapse  of  years,  thousands 
of  people  whose  domiciles  are  far  distant  from  its 
site — merchants,  travellers,  and  other  sojourners,  who 
from  curiosity  or  some  better  motive,  are  attracted  to 
its  ministrations.  Nor  these  alone.  In  our  own  case, 
there  has  always  been  mingled  with  our  winter  as- 
semblages, a  liberal  delegation  from  our  great  medi- 
cal schools.  And  one  of  the  most  interesting  features 
of  the  congregation  has  been  the  presence,  during 
my  entire  pastorship,  of  a  large  number  of  young  per- 
sons in  attendance  upon  the  admirable  Female  Semi- 


92  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

naries  of  our  city.  By  filaments  like  these  we  have 
been  linked  with  families  of  culture  and  worth  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  land.  The  seed  sown  at 
random  here  has  taken  root  in  a  genial  soil;  and 
many  a  garden  in  remote  cities  and  hamlets  has  been 
embellished  with  flowering  shrubs  and  generous  fruit 
trees  transplanted  from  our  humble  nursery.  Am  I 
not  warranted  in  saying  that  Omniscience  alone  can 
trace  the  myriad  streams  of  blessing  that  are  per- 
petually flowing  out  from  every  evangelical  church? 
And  that  these  hallowed  and  hallowing  influences  are 
indefinitely  augmented  where  a  church  has,  for  scores 
of  years  together,  the  surroundings  of  a  great  city? 

In  commending  the  liberality  and  zeal  which  you 
have  carried  into  your  work,  I  am  very  far  from  in- 
tending to  say  that  we  have  done  our  whole  duty. 
Tried  by  the  standard  of  the  New  Testament,  or  by 
the  church  of  the  apostolic  age,  our  deficiencies  have 
been  many  and  glaring.  But  God  has  given  us  the 
ability  and  disposition  to  take  some  not  insignificant 
part  in  the  benevolent  operations  of  the  time ;  and 
that  in  a  way  which  it  is  pleasant  to  reflect  upon. 
While  in  measure  we  have  fallen  short  of  the  New 
Testament  canon,  we  have  essayed  to  cultivate  its 
spirit.  You  will  understand  me  when  I  refer  to  the 
prevailing  tone  and  methods  of  the  Christianity  of  the 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  93 

day.  Without  disparaging  its  nobler  elements  and 
its  manifold  achievements,  those  whose  memories 
reach  back  forty  years  will  recall  the  more  quiet  style 
in  which  even  efficient  church-work  was  done  at  that 
time.  In  a  Hour  or  cotton  mill  you  must  expect  more 
noise  according  as  you  multiply  your  hoppers  and 
spindles.  Possibly  this  may  be  a  necessity  in  the 
higher  sphere  with  which  we  are  dealing.  It  certainly 
is  a  result.  We  have  enlarged  and  diversified  our 
machinery,  and  put  on  ten  or  twenty  hands  where  we 
had  a  solitary  craftsman,  and  with  more  than  a  corres- 
ponding increase  in  the  tremor  and  whirr.  Religion 
has  come  to  be  such  a  power  in  the  earth,  that  it  no 
longer  sees  any  occasion  for  the  tranquil  demeanor  it 
formerly  observed.  It  courts  applause.  It  revels  in 
pageants.  It  delights  in  advcrtisemejits.  When  it  does 
a  good  thing,  It  means  that  the  world  shall  take  note 
of  it.  And  the  world  would  be  very  ungracious  to  re- 
fuse this,  since  its  own  methods  have  been  so  largely 
adopted  by  the  church.  Understand  me.  I  do  not  de- 
precate, but  exult  In,  the  rising  power  of  the  church 
as  exemplified  in  the  wider  leaven  it  has  diffused 
throuo^h  all  our  orreat  communities,  and  the  marked 
attention  which  its  movements  invite,  not  only,  but 
compel  from  the  secular  press.  We  have  here  one  of 
the  lines  which  mark  the  risino^  of  the  tide,  and  record 


94  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

the  gradually  increasing  influence  Christianity  is  ac- 
quiring over  the  public  mind.  It  is  in  every  view  a 
wholesome  sign,  that  our  best  daily  papers,  not  to 
speak  of  literary  magazines,  assign  a  place  to  ecclesi- 
astical proceedings  and  to  religious  topics  generally, 
which  would  not  have  been  accorded  to  them  even 
a  few  years  ago.  The  significance  of  this  change  lies 
in  its  beine  an  index  to  the  state  of  feelino-  among-  the 
masses.  The  supply  of  this  sort  of  reading  has  grown 
out  of  the  demand,  and  every  Christian  man  should 
take  encourag-ement  from  it. 

In  perfect  consistency  with  these  views,  it  may  be 
held  that  one  of  the  chief  enticements  to  which  the 
church  is  exposed,  lies  in  the  direction  hinted  at  a 
moment  ago — that  of  making  a  parade  of  its  piety ; 
of  using  drums  and  trumpets  too  freely  ;  of  courting 
a  notoriety  which,  unsought,  might  be  positively 
healthful,  but,  solicited  and  aimed  at,  cannot  fail  to  be 
hurtful.  Of  course  some  advanced  Christian  will  re- 
ply, "  You  forget  that  the  world  moves.  What  could 
one  of  your  cotton  mills  do  with  the  machinery  that 
was  in  use  forty  years  ago?"  As  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  advert  to  this  topic  again,  I  forbear  answering  your 
interpellation  now  except  in  a  sentence  or  two.  The 
world  does  move :  and,  through  the  mercy  of  God,  it 
is  moving  on  the  whole,  in  the  right  direction.      Nor 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  95 

will  it  be  disputed  that  Christianity,  no  less  than 
husbandry,  commerce,  the  mechanic  arts  and  educa- 
tion, must  from  time  to  time  vary  its  implements  and 
methods.  But  the  nature  of  true  religion  is  as  immu- 
table as  the  perfections  of  its  Divine  Author. 
"  Righteous  Abel "  stood  as  the  representative  of  all 
the  righteous  for  these  sixty  centuries.  There  has 
never  been,  and  there  never  will  be  a  period  in  time  nor 
in  eternity,  when  the  essential  spirit  of  genuine  piety 
was  not  a  spirit  of  humility  ;  a  spirit,  the  opposite  of 
needless  din  and  ostentation ;  the  spirit,  in  other 
words,  of  Him  who,  while  he  went  about  doing  good, 
neither  strove  nor  cried,  nor  did  any  man  hear  His 
voice  in  the  street.  Would  it  occur  to  any  historian 
to  cite  this  beautiful  inspired  portraiture  as  descriptive 
of  the  piety  of  our  day  ?  And  yet  is  not  this  faultless 
model  the  one  to  which  all  Christians  profess  to  con- 
form? 

It  is  not  claimed  that  we  have  conformed  to  it.  It 
is  absolutely  certain  we  have  not.  But  it  is  due  to 
you  to  say,  that  the  characteristic  animus  oi  our  church 
has  been  rather  of  this  type  than  of  the  other.  You 
have  never  been  conspicuous  for  courting  notoriety. 
Efficient  and  not  officious,  you  have  rendered  many 
a  useful  service  to  the  cause  of  Christ  which  no  earthly 
chronicler  has  been  asked  to  record.     There  are  ser- 


96  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

vices  of  this  kind  which  otight  to  be  recorded  for  the 
honor  of  the  Master,  for  the  encouragement  of  the 
faithful  and  the  reproof  of  the  selfish.  Jesus  Himself 
sanctioned  it  when  He  enshrined  in  His  own  biography 
the  loving  ministration  of  Mary  of  Bethany,  and  made 
her  name  more  fragrant  for  all  the  ages,  and  through- 
out all  lands,  than  the  precious  nard  with  which  she 
anointed  Him,  Had  Mary  aimed  at  this  she  had 
missed  her  end,  and  possibly  incurred  the  rebuke 
as  well  of  her  blessed  Lord  as  of  His  disciples.. 
But  mindful  only  of  Him,  and  without  one  thought  of 
anything  beyond  that  small  room  where  they  were 
sitting,  she  performs  in  gentle  silence  a  modest  act 
which,  alike  to  her  amazement  and  that  of  the  twelve, 
He  takes  up  on  the  instant  and  makes  it  more  widely 
and  more  lastingly  known  than  if  He  had  set  it  in  the 
face  of  the  sun.  Nothing  approximating  to  this  can 
happen  a  second  time.  But  does  not  the  spirit  of  this 
loved  and  loving  woman  commend  itself  to  the 
Christian  consciousness  as  the  spirit  of  true  disciple- 
ship?  Is  not  this  the  way  in  which,  even  in  our 
bustling  age,  we  ought  to  go  about  our  work?  And 
should  we  not  be  thankful  to-day  for  the  honor  God 
has  put  upon  us,  in  that  this  church  has  never  been 
without  a  goodly  corps  of  disciples  who  have  prized 
it  as  the  sweetest  of  all  offices  to  minister  to  the  Lord 


FortielJi  Anniversary.  97 

Jesus  in  the  persons  of  His  members,  utterly  regard- 
less of  notice  either  by  the  world  or  the  Church? 

These  remarks,  it  will  be  observed,  have  reference 
exclusively  to  the  spirit  which  should  animate  our  re- 
ligious duties.  In  respect  to  the  general  style  and 
tenor  of  the  ministrations  upon  which  you  have  at- 
tended, it  does  not  become  me  to  speak  except  in  two 
aspects.  For  the  substantive  matter  of  these  min- 
istrations, the  sermon  with  which  they  were  opened 
(on  the  tenth  day  of  November,  1833,)  was  founded  on 
the  text,  1st  Cor.  ii,  2  ;  "I  determined  not  to  know  any- 
thing among  you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified," 
I  dare  not  say  that  I  have  never  lost  sight  of  this 
fundamental  canon  which  underlies  the  whole  science 
of  homiletics,  and  the  entire  service  of  the  ministry. 
But  I  think  I  may  appeal  to  you,  that  "Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified,"  has  been  the  habitual,  controlling 
theme  of  this  pulpit;  and  that,  with  such  ability  as  I 
might,  I  have  constantly  taught  you  that  "there  is  no 
other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby 
we  must  be  saved." 

It  may  interest  you  to  hear  some  extracts  from  the 
sermon  just  mentioned.  I  give  them  without  altera- 
tion ;  and  also  a  single  passage  from  the  sermon 
preached  on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  from  Luke 
viii.  18;  "Take  heed,  therefore,  how  ye  hear."''' 

13  *  See  Preface. 


98  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

The  first  part  of  the  discourse  is  devoted  to  the  in- 
quiry, "  What  it  is  not,  and  what  it  is,  to  preach  Jesus 
Christ  and  Him  crucified."  The  second  enforces  the 
obHgation  restino-  upon  the  ministry  thus  to  preach, 
by  considerations  Hke  the  following: 

I,  "It  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  preaching  these 
doctrines  that  they  are  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible. 

It  has  been  before  remarked  that  they  all  centre  in 
Christ,  and  that  almost  every  page  of  the  Bible  has  a 
reference  to  Christ.  The  great  object  of  this  sacred 
volume,  subordinately  to  the  advancement  of  the 
divine  glory,  is  to  reveal  a  Saviour  to  our  ruined  race. 
We  are  taught,  therefore,  what  is  the  character  of 
God,  and  the  nature  of  His  administration ;  what 
we  are  ourselves  ;  what  are  our  obligations  and  duties 
to  our  Creator  and  our  fellow-creatures  ;  and  in  what 
true  happiness  consists,  and  how  it  may  be  secured. 
All  this  and  much  more  is  made  known  to  us  by  One 
who  is  intimately  acquainted  with  all  our  circum- 
stances, and  who  knows  far  better  than  we  do  what 
is  best  for  us.  Moreover  our  teacher  is  a  Being  of 
infinite  wisdom,  power  and  goodness.  His  benevo- 
lence and  wisdom  will  surely  devise  the  measures 
best  calculated  to  promote  our  happiness,  and  His 
power  will  as  certainly  carry  those  measures  into  effect. 
The   simple  and   only    inquiry  with   us   therefore,   is, 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  99 

what  hath  God  said  ?  And  whatever  he  has  revealed 
for  our  edification,  correction,  or  comfort,  it  is  plainly 
the  duty  of  His  ambassadors  to  declare.  It  matters 
not  that  they  may  imagine  they  could  amend  or  im- 
prove the  message  entrusted  to  them;  the  business 
of  an  ambassador  is  not  to  alter,  whether  to  abridge 
or  enlarge  his  message,  but  to  interpret  and  deliver  it. 
It  is  of  no  moment  that  there  are  in  this  volume  "some 
things  hard  to  be  understood,"  for  it  is  not  the  preroga- 
tive of  debased  human  reason  to  reduce  all  mysteries 
to  the  narrow  limits  of  its  own  comprehension,  or  else 
to  reject  them  as  absurdities.  It  deserves  no  con- 
sideration that  many  of  these  inspired  truths  are 
offensive  to  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  for  mankind 
are  universally  subject  to  an  odious  distemper  which 
disqualifies  them  for  judging  either  of  their  true 
moral  condition,  or  of  the  adaptedness  of  the  pre- 
scribed remedy  to  their  disease. 

The  simple  question  must  and  will  recur,  what  hath 
God  said?  And  because  He  has  plainly  revealed  the 
doctrines  stated  in  the  former  part  of  this  discourse, 
those  doctrines  must  be  faithfully  proclaimed.  No  dis- 
cretionary power  is  left  us.  The  tenure  by  which  we 
hold  our  office — the  very  terms  of  our  commission 
compel  us  to  preach  them.  Whether  men  will  hear 
or  forbear,  will   receive  or  oppose,  we  must,  like  the 


100  Fortieth  An^iiversary . 

prophet  sent  to  Nineveh  of  old,  "  preach  the  preach- 
ing which  God  bids  us." 

2.  A  second  reason  why  men  should  preach  Christ 
crucified  in  the  manner  pointed  out  is,  that  this  preach- 
ing, and  this  alone,  is  perfectly  adapted  to  our  charac- 
ter and  circumstances. 

In  illustration  of  this  point  it  may  be  remarked  that 
the  system  of  doctrines  which  has  been  referred  to  is 
precisely  suited  to  man  as  a  condemned  rebel. 

That  this  is  truly  man's  condition,  needs  not  to  be 
formally  proved.  His  doom  is  recorded  in  the  Word 
of  God  with  an  explicit  frequency  which  shames  all 
incredulity  ;  and  whithersoever  we  turn  our  eyes  we 
read  in  lines  of  pain  and  sorrow,  of  tears  and  blood, 
the  indication  of  God's  just  displeasure  against  our 
race.  And  had  not  the  Gospel  been  published,  these 
indications  must  have  been  more  and  more  appalling, 
the  ravages  of  vice  more  fearful,  and  human  suffering 
more  insupportable,  until  the  world  had  been  con- 
verted into  an  immense  charnel  house.  For  apart 
from  the  great  propitiatory  sacrifice  made  known  in 
the  Gospel,  nothing  could  appease  the  wrath  of  God, 
nor  open  to  man  a  way  of  escape  from  the  bondage 
of  his  degrading  passions.  Through  the  cross  of 
Christ  alone  we  hear  of  pardoning  mercy.  There  is 
but  one  spot  in   the  wide  universe  from  which  "  for- 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  101 

giveness  "  is  breathed  forth,  and  that  spot  Is  Calvary. 
Well  might  the  angels  sing,  "  Peace,  good-will  to  men." 
Well  may  the  heralds  of  salvation  catch  the  strain  and 
prolong  the  glad  annunciation,  "  Peace,  good-will  to 
men."  O,  let  Christ  and  Him  crucified  be  preached. 
It  is  rest  to  the  weary.  It  is  hope  to  the  desponding. 
It  Is  health  to  the  sick.     It  is  life  to  the  dead. 

Again,  this  preaching  is  suited  to  man  as  a  depraved 
sinner.  Man  Is  corrupt  as  well  as  guilty.  He  needs 
not  only  to  be  pardoned  but  to  be  reformed,  to  be  reno- 
vated, to  be  "  new  created."  The  power  which  made 
him,  alone  can  re-make  him.  He  Is  too  hardened  in 
sin  to  be  reclaimed  by  mere  human  influence  ;  and  all 
human  expedients  have  failed  of  effecting  In  him  a 
radical  change  of  character.  But  the  Gospel  comes 
to  him  sustained  by  a  divine  energy  ;  and  through 
the  instrumentality  of  its  truths  applied  by  the  Sacred 
Spirit  his  understanding  is  enlightened,  his  will  is 
renewed,  his  affections  are  purified,  and  the  holy 
image  of  God  is  re-estamped  upon  his  soul.  Thus 
enabled  to  discern  the  beauty,  excellency,  and  glory 
of  spiritual  things,  he  breaks  away  from  the  thraldom 
of  sin,  and  begins  to  enjoy  that  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  came  to  make  this  people  free.  One  reason 
why  the  doctrine  of  Christ  crucified,  and  those  which 
grow  out  of  it,  produce  this  result  Is,  that  they  are 


102  Fortieth  A7mive7'sary. 

accompanied  by  a  Divine  influence  which  insures 
their  effect  upon  the  heart ;  and  another  is,  that  they 
exhibit  in  the  clearest  Hght  the  true  nature  both  of 
heavenly  and  earthly  things,  and  present  the  strongest 
possible  motives  to  induce  man  to  transfer  his  af- 
fections from  this  world  to  abetter.  Yieldincr  to  their 
persuasive  power,  he  adopts  new  principles  of  action, 
selects  new  objects  of  pursuit,  and  in  the  humble  but 
sincere  belief  of  the  Gospel,  lays  the  foundation  of  a 
character  which  shall  hereafter  grow  up  in  the  sym- 
metry of  perfect  holiness,  and  be  beautified  and 
adorned  with  the  unfading  graces  of  the  heavenly 
state.  In  confirmation  of  these  views  it  is  interestinof 
to  observe  how  constantly  the  sacred  writers  refer  to 
Christ,  in  urging  their  converts  to  seek  that  true  dig- 
nity of  character  which  both  results  in  and  flows  from 
sincere  obedience  to  the  Gospel.      '•'         '•'         '•'         '=' 

3.  This  preaching  tends  more  than  any  other  to 
glorif)^  God.  .  =•=  -^         *  •^-         '■■■         *         '^ 

4.  Finally,  Christ  crucified  should  be  preached,  be- 
cause God  has  ever  attended  this  preaching  with  a 
peculiar  blessing. 

It  was  so  in  the  case  of  the  Apostles.  *  *  * 
Thus  it  has  been  also  in  the  subsequent  history  of 
the  church.  In  proportion  as  these  doctrines  have 
been  faithfully  exhibited,  has  true  piety  flourished;  and 
wherever  they  have  been   subverted  or  suppressed 


Fortieth  Annivej'sary.  103 

evangelical  religion  has  declined.  It  is  under  the 
preaching  of  these  doctrines  that  our  own  country  has 
been  blessed  with  very  numerous  gracious  effusions 
of  the  Holy  Spirit — insomuch  that  it  may  almost  be 
characterized  as  the  "Land  of  Revivals."  And  accord- 
ing to  the  Divine  promise,  such  preaching  is  the  ap- 
pointed means  by  which  our  whole  ruined  race  is  to  be 
reclaimed,  reformed  and  sanctified  to  the  service  of 
God. 

Having  thus  endeavored  to  explain  and  enforce  the 
obligation  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  preach 
Christ  and  Him  crucified,  I  shall  close  this  discourse 
with  one  or  two  practical  inferences. 

I.  We  learn  from  this  discussion  the  dignity  and 
responsibility  of  the  Pastor's  office. 

His  commission  is  derived  from  God.  He  speaks 
in  the  name  of  God.  He  comes  as  an  ambassador 
from  the  Court  of  Heaven  to  treat  with  his  fellow-men 
on  the  most  solemn  and  momentous  subjects.  In 
comparison  with  the  business  in  which  he  is  engaged, 
all  earthly  affairs,  even  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires, 
sink  into  utter  insio^nificance.  How  sacred  the  ofiice! 
How  responsible  its  duties!  He  stands  between  the 
dying  and  the  dead.  Immortal  souls  are  entrusted  to 
his  keeping,  and  he  watches  for  them  as  one  who  is 
to  give  account. 

And  what  minister,  as  he  considers  the  deceitful- 


104  Fortieth  Aimivei^sary. 

ness  and  corruption  of  his  own  heart,  the  temptations 
which  assail,  and  the  dangers  which  encircle  him,  the 
inestimable  value  of  the  souls  of  his  people,  and  the 
aggravated  condemnation  of  the  unfaithful  shepherd, 
is  not  forced  to  exclaim  with  irrepressible  emotion, 
"Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?" 

2.  Again,  this  discussion  may  well  remind  the 
people  of  their  duties  toward  their  Pastor. 

If  his  office  be  one  of  such  high  responsibilit)',  and 
so  nearly  connected  with  their  own  best  interests,  let 
them  strencrthen  his  hands  and  encourao^e  his  heart. 

o  o 

He  needs  their  sympathies.  He  needs  their  for- 
bearance.    He  needs  most  of  all  their  prayers. 

My  hearers,  will  you  remember  these  things  ? 
Contrary  to  all  my  anticipations,  to  all  my  intentions, 
and  to  all  my  former  views  of  duty,  I  have  assumed 
the  spiritual  charge  of  a  large  and  important  Church. 
I  trust  that  I  have  done  it  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  with 
a  supreme  desire  to  glorify  His  name.  But  I  can  this 
day  adopt  the  language  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Corinthian 
Church,  and  assure  you  that  "  I  am  with  you  in  weak- 
ness and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling."  I  tremble 
for  myself,  lest  after  preaching  to  others,  I  may  be 
cast  away.  I  tremble  for  you,  lest  the  Gospel  which 
I  proclaim  may  be  a  savor  of  death  unto  death  to  your 
souls. 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  1U5 

It  will  be  my  object  to  preach  Christ  crucitied  to 
you  in  the  manner  which  has  been  imperfectly  de- 
scribed this  morning-.  In  the  discharge  of  this  and 
all  my  other  duties,  I  must  claim  your  indulgence  and 
I  must  ask  your  prayers.  If  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  a  chosen  vessel  of  God  and  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  felt  so  deeply  his  need  of  an  interest  in  the 
prayers  of  the  Church  as  repeatedly  to  solicit  their 
remembrance  of  him  at  the  throne  of  Grace,  with  how 
much  earnestness  may  I  be  permitted  to  say, "  Brethren, 
pray  for  me!"  And  if  you  really  wish  to  afford  me 
encouragement  in  my  pastoral  labors,  you  will  do  this 
most  effectually  by  receiving  with  cordial  affection  the 
Saviour  whom  I  preach.  It  is  comparatively  of  little 
moment  in  what  light  you  may  regard  me;  but  eternal 
consequences  are  suspended  on  your  acceptance  or 
rejection  of  my  Divine  Master.  It  is  His  message 
I  bring  you,  and  His  love  I  .proclaim  to  you.  And 
hereafter  you  will  find  either  that  His  frown  is  perfect 
misery,  or  His  smile  unmingled  joy ;  that  hell  is  woe 
because  Christ  is  absent,  or  that  heaven  is  bliss 
because  Christ  is  there." 

I  add  a  paragraph  from  the  afternoon  sermon. 

"  You  should  hear  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  solemnity 

and  importance  of  the  truths  presented. 

"The  Christian  Ministry,  the  Sabbath,  and  the  ordi- 
14 


106  FortictJi  Anniversary. 

nances  of  the  Lord's  House,  were  not  instituted  to  be 
'  a  vain  show.'  You  are  not  required  to  be  present 
in  this  place  in  order  that  you  may  unite  in  unmeaning- 
ceremonies,  or  hsten  to  abstract  discussions  which  have 
no  bearing  upon  your  duty  and  happiness.  Nor  are 
you  at  hberty  to  come  here  merely  to  gratify  a  thirst 
for  knowledge,  or  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  excited 
feeling.  The  Sanctuary  is  designed  to  be  the  theatre 
of  the  most  solemn  transactions  which  take  place  in 
our  world.  The  business  of  our  political,  judicial,  and 
legislative  bodies,  relates  only  to  the  property,  the  lib- 
erty, or  at  most  the  lives  of  men.  And  you  have  all  ob- 
served how  intense  an  interest  is  often  excited  through- 
out a  whole  community  by  the  agitation  of  these  sub- 
jects. You  have  observed  with  what  breathless  silence 
a  heterogeneous  crowd,  bound  together  by  no  tie  but 
that  of  a  common  nature,  attend  on  every  step  of  an 
investigation  which  involves  the  life  of  a  fellow-creature, 
and  you  have  yourself,  perhaps,  awaited  with  painful 
anxiety  the  issue.  By  what  mysterious  agency  Is  It 
then,  that  you  are  divested  of  all  your  sympathies 
when  you  enter  the  House  of  God  ?  Where  are 
feeling  and  reason  and  conscience  when  a  cause  is 
pending  which  Involves  your  own  life,  and  not  your 
life  merely,  but  your  never-dying  soul  ?  The  truths 
which  are  here  declared  to  you  are  most  solemn,  most 


FortictJi  Aitniversajy.  107 

momentous  truths.  They  relate  to  holiness  and  sin, 
to  life  and  death,  to  heaven  and  hell,  to  time  and 
eternity.  They  relate  to  your  personal  sin  or  holi- 
ness, yoiir  life  or  death,  the  heaven  or  hell  which  yoii 
are  to  inhabit.  They  concern  you  every  day  and  hour; 
your  every  act,  every  word,  every  thought.  They 
concern,,  deeply  concern  you,  whether  you  regard 
them  or  not.  You  may  disbelieve  them.  You  may 
despise  them.  This  cannot  alter  their  essential  nature. 
Refuse  to  listen  to  them.  Treat  them  with  cold  in- 
difference, with  philosophic  scorn,  with  vulgar  ridicule. 
They  are  truths  still,  immutable  truths,  truths  which 
affect  in  the  highest  degree  your  present  character 
and  your  future  destiny.  Let  me  urge  you  then  to 
believe  these  truths,  and  to  attend  to  them  as  those 
whose  eternal  well-being  is  suspended  on  their  accept- 
ance of  the  Gospel." 

As  regards  the  manner  in  which  that  great  system 
of  theology  and  morals,  of  which  the  doctrine  of  the 
cross  is  the  heart  and  stem,  has  been  set  before  you,  I 
find  much  to  regret — much  that  I  feel  mi^ht  be 
amended,  if  it  were  possible  for  us  to  live  our  lives 
over  a  second  time.  But  on  one  point  my  mind  has 
not  wavered.  I  began  my  labors  here  with  the  con- 
viction that  the  minister  of  Christ  must  assign  the 
same  pre-eminence  to  the  pulpit  which  the  New  Testa- 


108  Fortieth  Anitiversary. 

ment  accords  to  it.  One  of  my  own  pastors  had 
already  quoted  to  me  this  remark,  made  by  the  late 
celebrated  Dr.  Griffin,  in  "  charging  "  him  at  his  ordi- 
nation, to-wit :  "Never  expect  to  satisfy  your  congre- 
gation in  the  matter  of  pastoral  visiting."  I  did  not 
expect  to  satisfy  my  people,  and  have  not  been  dis- 
appointed. That  I  might  and  should  have  been  more 
diligent  in  this  department  of  my  work,  is  freely  con- 
fessed. But  where  the  two  functions  come  in  collision, 
the  paramount  claim  of  the  pulpit  must  be  insisted 
upon — with  this  qualification,  viz.:  that  even  the  pulpit 
must  yield  to  the  demands  of  the  sick,  the  desponding, 
the  awakened,  and  the  bereaved.  Thus  limited,  the 
requisitions  of  the  pulpit  must  be  held  sacred  as 
against  challenge  from  whatever  quarter.  Congrega- 
tions do  not  like  to  be  told  this.  They  hear  with 
latent  discontent  of  churches  whose  pastors  spend 
nearly  their  whole  time  in  going  from  house  to  house; 
and  ver)'  pleasant  work  it  is  to  a  pastor  to  go  from 
house  to  house,  in  the  free,  cordial,  confidential  inter- 
course which  should  obtain  between  a  minister  and  his 
people.  But  what  is  to  become  of  the  pulpit?  Were 
it  not  better  that  the  time  devoted  to  a  half-dozen 
families  should  be  given  to  the  preparation  of  sermons 
which  might  edify  his  entire  congregation  ?  And, 
note  well,  the  same  households  that  are  covetous  of  a 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  109 

pastor's  frequent  visits,  are  usually  sensitive  as  to  the 
quality  of  his  ministrations.  They  expect  to  entertain 
an  anoel  throuo-h  the  week,  and  then  to  be  entertained 
by  an  angel  on  the  Sabbath. 

This  cannot  be.  Flesh  and  blood  is  not  equal  to  it. 
The  demands  upon  a  pastor's  time,  parochial  and 
extra-parochial,  (I  am  speaking"  of  large  cities,)  are  so 
multiform  and  pressing  that  unless  he  be  a  very 
Boanerges  for  physical  endurance,  and  made,  too,  with- 
out nerves,  or  with  iron  nerves,  he  vinst  elect  between 
the  social  yearnings  of  his  people,  and  the  plenary 
necessities  of  his  pulpit.  It  will  probably  dawn  some 
day  upon  our  principal  congregations,  that  the  Re- 
formed Churches  of  the  continent  and  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  our  own  country,  have  adopted  the  true 
plan  in  providing  every  pastor  with  an  assistant — 
usually  some  young  man  whose  training  (it  may  be 
added,)  for  a  year  or  two  in  that  relation  must  be  in- 
valuable to  him  in  after  years.  However  that  may  be, 
no  minister  can  expect  to  sustain  himself  permanently 
in  such  a  position,  without  constant  and  diligent  study. 
We  may  lay  stress  upon  this  at  an  era  so  distinguished 
as  the  present  for  the  culture  of  polite  literature,  the 
unexampled  progress  of  science,  and  the  general  dif- 
fusion of  knowledge.  Under  any  circumstances  a  con- 
gregation is  entitled  to  the  best  preaching  their  pastor 


110  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

can  give  them.  And  the  obhgation  to  furnish  them,  I 
do  not  say  rhetorical  or  eloquent,  but  well  considered 
and  instructive  sermons,  becomes  imperative  in  an 
educated  community. 

Let  me  observe,  as  in  a  parenthesis,  upon  this 
point,  that  no  one  except  a  minister  can  understand 
how  much  the  quality  of  the  preaching  depends  upon 
the  quality  of  the  hearing.  If  I  have  succeeded,  how- 
ever imperfectly,  in  this  department  of  my  work,  the 
merit  is,  in  no  trivial  measure,  due  to  you.  It  has 
been  my  high  privilege  from  the  day  of  my  ordination 
until  now  to  minister  to  an  intelligent  and  appreciative 
congregation.  And  I  could  thoroughly  sympathize 
with  my  beloved  friend  and  brother — that  illustrious 
scholar  and  preacher-'-  in  whose  hands  I  left  my  pulpit 
during  my  year  abroad — when  he  paid  you  the  rare 
compliment  of  saying,  that  he  "  enjoyed  preaching  to 
you  more  than  to  any  other  congregation." 

Let  me  not  be  understood,  in  the  remarks  just  made 
on  this  general  subject,  as  intimating  that  the  pulpit 
should  go  to  the  schools  for  its  themes,  or  lay  out  its 
strength  upon  philosophical  essays  and  the  researches 
of  science.  This  were  treason  to  its  Lord  and  ruinous 
to  men's  souls.  But  the  ministry  may  be  presumed 
to  note  the  current  tides  of  speculation,  the  rise  and 

*  The  late  Prof.  J-  Addison  Alexander,  D.  D. 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  Ill 

progress  of  erroneous  and  hurtful  opinions,  and  what- 
ever may  menace  the  well-being  of  the  church  and  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel.  And  they  must  be  prepared  to 
handle  the  aucrust  teachinofs  of  God's  word  with  some 
wise  reference  to  passing  events,  and  in  a  way  to 
command  the  respect  of  intelligent  hearers.  It  must 
be  apparent  that  the  responsibility  which,  as  well  in 
this  view  as  in  others,  attaches  to  the  ministr)-  of  our 
own  church,  is  alike  onerous  and  honorable.  The 
Liturgical  sects  divide  the  exercises  of  worship,  more 
or  less  equally,  between  the  minister  and  the  congre- 
gation, little  prominence  being  given,  or  even  allowed, 
to  the  function  of  preaching.  Our  simple  ritual — 
perhaps  too  simple — concentres  the  interest  of  the 
service  in  the  pastor.  The  service  takes  its  com- 
plexion mainly  from  himself;  from  his  own  culture, 
wisdom,  taste,  zeal  and  spirituality.  We  may  lament 
this,  but  the  fact  is  patent.  And  being  patent,  the 
obvious  consequence  follow;  on  the  one  hand,  that  a 
cyclopcean  task  is  laid  upon  the  ministrs'  of  our  com- 
munity, and  on  the  other,  that  they  are  bound  to  bring 
their  very  best  powers  to  the  prosecution  of  it — con- 
tinually invoking  the  aid  of  that  Divine  Spirit  without 
whom  Paul  himself  must  have  planted  and  Apollos 
watered  in  vain. 

And  if  so,  what  can  any  of  us  do  without  persist- 


112  Fortieth  Atuiiversary. 

ent,  systematic,  absorbing  study  ?  An  inspired  man 
has  his  emblem  in  a  living:  fountain  of  water.  Other 
teachers  are  but  cisterns ;  some,  purely  cisterns — 
nothing  comes  out  except  what  has  been  poured  in : 
others,  cisterns  which  have  a  few  little  springs  within 
that  supplement  the  stores  received  ab  extra,  and 
give  color  and  flavor  to  the  entire  contents  of  the 
reservoir.  In  either  case  the  stream  will  shrink  as 
streams  usually  do,  unless  constantly  recruited  at  the 
source  ;  and  when  it  shrinks  there  is  heard  a  murmur- 
ing of  the  flock  because  their  shepherd  has  led  them 
into  a  recrion  where  "  there  is  no  water  to  drink."  A 
prudent  shepherd  will  toil  very  hard  sooner  than  incur 
this  peril,  and  toil  hard  he  must  or  he  will  not  elude  it. 
Not  to  enlarge  upon  a  topic  which  will  recur  in 
another  connection,  the  history  of  Christianity  shows 
that  wherever  the  evangelical  pulpit  has  been  thus  re- 
garded and  cherished  by  ministers  and  people,  there 
it  has  been  owned  of  God  as  the  most  efficient  of  all 
means  in  reforming  society,  in  bringing  sinners  to 
Christ,  in  edifying  believers,  and  in  propagating  the 
Gospel,  In  perfect  honesty  of  soul  I  express  my 
sorrow  that  this  pulpit  has  not  fulfilled,  as  it  should 
have  done,  the  conditions  just  specified  ;  while  I  may 
be  permitted  to  claim  that  I  have  uniformly  looked 
upon   it  as   being   entitled  to  the   first  place   in  my 


Foj^tieth  A^tniversajy.  113 

studies  and  labors,  my  sympathies,  my  aspirations  and 
my  prayers. 

There  is  another  agency  of  which,  at  your  prompt- 
ing and  with  your  co-operation,  I  have  largely  availed 
myself — the  Press.  The  books  that  have  gone  out 
with  my  name  have  been  very  kindly  received  both 
in  this  country  and  Great  Britain.  But  I  refer  to  the 
subject  simply  to  put  on  record  here  a  statement  en- 
tirely personal  in  its  nature,  but  prompted,  I  trust, 
more  by  a  sentiment  of  gratitude  than  by  any  selfish 
motive.  Several  years  ago  I  was  led  to  write  and 
publish  a  small  volume  called  "The  Great  Question,"* 
Not  to  impugn  the  estimate  of  the  pulpit  just  pre- 
sented, I  may  and  must  affirm,  that  the  book  here 
mentioned  has  been  owned  of  God  beyond  any  other 
labor  of  my  head  or  hand.  In  so  signal  a  manner 
has  He  set  His  seal  upon  it,  that  I  cannot  but  regard 
the  writing  of  it  as  the  most  important  work  of  my 
life.  I  mean  just  what  I  say.  If  God,  in  His  great 
mercy,  has  put  it  in  my  power  to  do  anything  which 
has  been  helpful  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  past,  or 
which  promises  to  be  useful  to  my  fellow-men  when 
I  am  gone,  I  believe  it  may  be  found  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  book.     To  His  service  it  was  dedicated. 

*"The  Great  Question: — Will  you  consider   the  subject   of  Per- 
sonal Religion  ?  " — American  Sunday  School  Union. 
15 


114  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

With  His  rich  blessing  it  has  been  crowned.  In  His 
gracious  keeping  I  leave  it  for  the  future.  And  to 
His  name,  from  the  depths  of  a  grateful  heart,  I  ren- 
der all  the  praise. 

By  an  easy  transition  we  pass  from  these  topics  to 
some  of  the  changes  affecting  the  externals  of  our 
worship,  which  have  come  in  during  the  last  forty 
years.  Conspicuous  among  these  is  the  altered  style 
of  our  ecclesiastical  architecture.  The  wholesome 
sentiment  has  become  common,  that  the  house  which 
a  people  rear  for  the  Lord,  should  not,  to  say  the 
least,  be  inferior  to  their  own  houses.  The  improve- 
ment in  the  construction  of  churches  in  their  outward 
aspect,  and  interior  grace  and  comfort — may  be  noted 
as  real  progress.  But  even  Eden  had  its  peril.  And 
there  are  snares  along  the  best  paths  we  walk  in,  and 
the  best  schemes  we  pursue.  The  tendency  now  is 
to  expend  too  much  money  upon  churches;  to  make 
them  too  ornate;  to  contrive  one  set  of  churches  for 
the  rich  and  another  for  the  poor;  whereas,  the 
Christian  Sanctuary  is,  of  all  places  in  the  world,  the 
spot  where  the  rich  and  the  poor  should  meet  together 
in  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  the  Maker  of  them  all. 
Should  Protestantism  on  any  extended  scale,  forbid 
or  frustrate  this,  it  would  give  some  pretext  for  the 
as  yet  senseless  cry  that  "  Protestantism  Is  a  failure." 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  llo 

But  it  cannot  be.  The  Churches  of  the  Reformation 
will  continue  to  be,  as  they  have  always  been,  the 
best  friends  of  the  poor.  Only  let  them  see  to  it  that 
they  do  not  carry  the  costliness  of  their  Sanctuaries 
to  the  point  of  a  sinful  extravagance,  and  slight  the 
claims  of  the  Lord's  poor  to  a  place  in  His  House  and 
at  His  table. 

Let  us  next  suppose  one  of  our  faithful  Mission- 
aries, on  returning  after  an  absence  of  forty  years, 
say  in  Africa,  to  worship  on  his  first  Sabbath  with 
almost  any  three  of  the  leading  congregations  in  one 
of   our    large    cities,  what  would    chiefly  attract    his 
notice?     First,  unquestionably,  the  general  aspect  of 
the  wardrobes  before  him.     When  he  left  the  country, 
congregations    of  the   same   rank  wore  plainer  cos- 
tumes.    Such   congregations  in  Europe  do  still.     It 
is  not  the  custom  in  those  countries  to  "dress  up" 
either    for  church  or    for  the  street.     Foreigners  of 
rank  who  visit  us,  note  the  contrast  as  revealing  one 
of  the  weaknesses  of  a  people  who  talk  much  of  their 
"Republican    simplicity."     We    may    not   deny    that 
their  strictures  are  founded  in  reason.     But  the  per- 
verse usage  has  too  firm  a  footing  to  be  uprooted. 
We  may  regret  that  extreme  elegance,  and  costliness, 
and  decoration,  are  not  reserved  for  the  social  occa- 
sions to  which  they  so  intuitively  belong.      But  it  is 


116  For'tieth  Anniversary. 

idle  to  inveigh  against  the  bad  taste  of  a  fashion 
which  has  become  as  thoroughly  national  as  any 
fashion  we  have. 

The  next  thing  to  strike  the  attention  of  our  Mis- 
sionar}'  brother  would  probably  be  the  posture  of  the 
congregation  during  the  devotional  exercises.  When 
he  went  abroad,  it  was  the  established  practice  among 
Presbyterians  to  stand  in  prayer.  This  was  the  set- 
tled custom  of  the  whole  church  for  the  first  six  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era.  \  arious  causes  have 
been  assigned  for  the  change  that  has  gradually  crept 
into  our  churches,  and  which  is  said  to  be  infecting 
even  those  of  Scotland  and  Ireland.  Enouo^h  that  it 
has  become  ver)'  prevalent,  and  is  sanctioned  by  large 
numbers  of  the  most  devout  of  our  communion.  I 
havx  regretted  and  resisted  the  innovation;  but  the 
Christian  people  will  have  it  so,  and  the  churches 
should  now  choose  for  themselves  among  the  other 
allowable  attitudes  of  devotion.  These  are  prostra- 
tion, kneeling,  and  bowing.  The  first  is  out  of  the 
question.  To  the  second,  which  many  would  prefer, 
the  arrangements  of  our  pews  are  not  suited.  The 
third,  which  has  the  sanction  of  the  venerable  Re- 
formed (Dutch)  Church,  has  commended  itself  to  all 
•who  have  relinquished  the  custom  of  the  fathers,  and 
promises  to  become  general.     Should  this  be  the  re- 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  117 

suit,  a  further  modification  of  our  order  would  be  in- 
dispensable. Bowing  or  kneeling  in  prayer  infers, 
both  for  comfort  and  edification,  standing  in  the  office 

* 

of  praise;  and  unless  obvious  tokens  are  misinter- 
preted, not  many  years  will  have  elapsed  before  this 
becomes  a  familiar,  if  not  the  current  usaofe  in  our 
communion. 

Another  change  would  be  noted  by  our  visitor. 
He  attained  his  majority  under  a  prescriptive  rule 
which  fixed  the  canonical  duration  of  the  Sabbath  ser- 
vices, certainly  the  morning  service,  at  two  hours. 
The  benediction  now  falls  upon  his  ear  a  half  hour 
sooner  in  the  morning,  and  nearly  an  hour  sooner  in 
the  afternoon  or  evening.  The  prayers,  the  sermon, 
the  hymns,  (I  do  not  say  the  music) — everything  is 
abridged.  On  inquiring  into  this,  he  would  hear  it 
vindicated  on  two  quite  dissimilar  grounds.  He 
would  be  told  that  it  was  exacted  by  the  reigning 
spirit  of  the  country;  that  being  "a  very  great  people," 
and  having  more  to  do  than  any  other  people,  we 
must  needs  be  in  haste  with  our  worship  as  with  our 
other  occupations  ;  for  it  is  undeniable  that  we  carry 
this  impetuosity  into  every  department  of  politics  and 
business,  into  everything,  in  fact,  except  our  amuse- 
ments;— the  theatre,  the  opera,  the  banquet,  the 
fashionable  ball,  being  among  the  necessaries  of  life, 


118  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

it  would  be  suicidal  to  curtail  the  time  devoted  to 
them.  This  would  be  one  explanation.  From  a  dit- 
ferent  quarter  he  would  be  told  that,  since  he  went 
abroad,  the  claims  upon  the  time,  and  thought,  and 
health  of  our  pastors  have  been  doubled,  perhaps 
quadrupled;  that  the  indefinite  multiplication  of  be- 
nevolent societies  has  very  largely  increased  the  de- 
mands upon  the  sympathies  and  care  of  private 
Christians;  that  the  arduous  labors  they  bestow  upon 
Sunday-schools  and  Missionary  enterprises  consume 
some  hours  of  each  Sabbath;  and  that,  with  these 
altered  conditions  of  the  church,  it  is  proper  that  the 
stated  exercises  of  public  worship  should  be  less  pro- 
tracted than  they  were  formerly.  Our  guest  would 
be  too  fair-minded  to  dispute  the  validity  of  this 
reasoning,  whatever  he  might  think  of  the  other. 

But  a  greater  surprise  (logically  preceding  the  one 
just  named,)  awaits  him.  It  was  hinted  a  moment 
ago  that  he  would  not  find  the  music  of  the  sanctuary 
abridged.  He  might  happen,  for  the  day,  into  churches 
where  he  would  find  it  materially  improved — for  there 
are  m,any  such  churches.  But  he  would  not  be  long 
in  discovering  that  in  our  great  cities  music  had 
usurped  a  place  in  the  house  of  God  to  which  it  has 
no  valid  claim.  \'ery  early  (to  repeat  what  was  said  in 
your  hearing  a  few  years  since,)   was  it  brought  into 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  119 

play  as  a  means  of  perverting  and  debasing"  public  wor- 
ship. Widi  one  voice  die  fadiers  resisted  its  abuses, 
and  strove  to  preserve  its  purity  and  to  keep  it  in  its 
place.  But  they  were  foiled.  Music  continued  to 
encroach  upon  the  customary  ritual  until  the  choir 
subjugated  the  pulpit.  For  several  centuries  preach- 
ing was  practically  suspended.  Painting  and  sculpture 
allied  themselves  with  their  sister-art.  Vast  cathedrals, 
alien  from  the  whole  genius  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
and  suitable  only  for  pompous  shows,  took  the  place 
of  the  humble  sanctuaries  of  the  early  believers.  The 
church  by  degres  exchanged  its  spiritual  character 
for  the  functions  and  trappings  of  a  civil  state. 
Christianity  became  a  mere  political  institute  ;  and 
worship  a  sacrilegious  ceremonial  in  which  God's 
altars  were  used  to  offer  incense  to  human  pride  and 
ambition. 

The  cycles  of  history  return  upon  themselves.  It 
is  not  probable  that  those  who  are  most  concerned 
will  care  to  look  into  this  mirror,  or  that  the  lesson,  if 
seen,  will  be  heeded.  But  there  the  lesson  is.  The 
process  which  wrought  such  irreparable  evil  in  the 
early  church  is  repeating  itself  in  our  day.  Music  is 
again  the  chosen  implement  for  sapping  the  walls  of 
Zion  and  defacing  its  beauty.  People  used  to  go  to 
church  to  worship  God.     This  seems,  on  the  whole,  to 


120  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

be  the  Scriptural  idea  of  going  to  church.  But  they 
are  now  invited  to  the  sanctuary  to  enjoy  a  musical 
treat;  in  many  cases  to  witness  a  melo-dramatic  per- 
formance— a  sort  of  Sanday  Opera,  mollified,  indeed, 
but  in  full  keeping  with  the  Opera  of  the  other  six 
days.  As  yet  these  are,  with  us,  exceptional  instances. 
But  any  church  may  grow  to  them  in  time.  Already 
it  has  come  to  be  recognized  in  very  numerous  con- 
gregations, and  confined  to  no  one  sect,  as  an  indis- 
pensable means  of  what  is- called  "success,"  to  pro- 
vide the  most  artistic  and  elaborate  music.  Churches 
are  not  ashamed  to  compete  with  each  other,  in  hold- 
intr  out  inducements  of  this  sort  to  allure  visitors. 
Multitudes  of  young  people,  forsaking  the  pews  where 
they  belong,  are  flitting  about  from  church  to  church 
"  to  hear  the  music."  This  is  the  acknowledged 
motive.  They  have  too  much  candor  to  pretend  that 
they  go  to  join  in  the  prayers  and  praises  of  the  sanc- 
tuary, or  to  hear  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  They 
go  simply  to  be  regaled  with  fine  singing.  This  is  the 
end  they  aim  at ;  and  this  the  burden  of  their  report 
when  the  service  is  over.  The  preaching  is  nothing — 
the  less  of  it  (in  their  esteem)  the  better. 

Now  am  I  declaiming  against  the  culture  of  music? 
No.  Am  I  proscribing  musical  exhibitions  ?  No  :  not 
in  their  legitimate  place  and  character.     Am  I  dispar- 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  121 

aging  the  value  of  good  singing  in  the  house  of  God? 
Not  at  all.  There  must  be  a  certain  harmony  be- 
tween the  refinement  and  taste  of  a  congregation  and 
their  service  of  song,  or  it  will  mar  the  comfort  and 
edification  of  their  worship.  But  this  is  not  to  justify 
or  extenuate  the  arrogant  and  pernicious  substitution 
of  cunning  music  and  its  kindred  devices,  for  the 
authorized  exercises  of  the  Lord's  house.  To  in- 
timate that  the  practices  reprobated  may  be  telling 
upon  the  whole  cast  of  our  religion,  and  replacing  the 
substance  with  the  shadow,  might  provoke  a  smile. 
But  your  incredulity  may  have  its  solution.  People 
standing  upon  a  drifting  field  of  ice,  miles  in  diameter, 
are  not  cognizant  of  its  motion.  Our  Christianity  has 
been  so  long  and  so  widely  drifting  from  its  ancient 
moorings  that  we  have,  possibly,  lost  sight  of  all  the 
land-marks.  A  single  observation  will  suffice  to 
correct  your  reckoning.  Bring  the  Christianity  now 
growing  so  popular  in  our  cities  to  the  test  of  the  law 
and  the  testimony.  See  whether  it  be  the  religion  of 
Christ  and  the  apostles.  See  whether  its  worship  and 
its  spirit  be  the  spirit  and  worship  of  the  early  church. 
If  this  inquiry  be  conducted  with  candor,  you  will  be 
shut  up  to  the  conclusion  that  a  change  is  stealing 
over   our  Christianity  which    seriously  threatens    its 

vitality.     The  passion  for  ornate  music  is  doing  for 
i6 


122  Fortieth  Anmversa7y. 

the  church  what  the  most  subtle  of  the  mineral 
poisons  does  for  the  body.  The  first  effect  of  arsenic, 
in  minute  potions,  is  to  beautify  the  complexion. 
Persevered  in,  the  result  is  asphyxia  and  death.  Men 
are  not  satisfied  with  the  church  as  Christ  made  it  and 
pronounced  it,  "  ver)^  good."  They  must  refine  upon 
His  model,  and  array  it  in  other  vestments,  and  make 
it  attractive  to  the  senses,  and  adjust  it  to  a  "cultivated" 
generation.  And  they  are  too  busy  in  embellishing 
its  exterior  to  note  that  their  manipulations  are  poison- 
ing the  blood,  and  weakening  the  pulse,  and  extin- 
guishing its  very  life.  This,  too,  with  the  inevitable 
effects  of  the  treatment  before  their  eyes.  It  is  the 
common  vice  of  empirics  that  they  never  learn  any- 
thing. If  it  were  otherwise,  these  people  would  see 
that  they  have  only  taken  up  a  system  of  practice 
which  has  been  in  vocjue  for  ag-es  in  the  Oriental 
Churches  and  the  Church  of  Rome.  Those  churches 
offer  them  satisfactory  exhibitions  of  a  mere  spectacular 
Christianity.  The  methods  they  have  adopted,  if  per- 
sisted in,  would  in  time  assimilate  any  Protestant 
church  to  these  hierarchies.  And  if  they  cannot  or  will 
not  see  it,  the  Christians  of  these  communions  ought 
to  see  it,  and  put  a  stop  to  this  pestilent  tampering 
with  sacred  things. 

If  you  cannot  endure   the  simplicity  of  *the  New 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  123 

Testament  ceremonial;  if  the  central  place  assigned 
by  Christ  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  offend  you  ; 
if  the  house  of  God  be  in  your  esteem  a  mere  music- 
hall  or  theatre ;  and  the  only  worship  you  crave  be 
an  oratorio  or  a  drama ;  why  insist  upon  fashioning 
Protestant  churches  to  this  style  of  devotion  ?     If  the 
scheme  be  so  captivating  in  the  bud,  the  full  bloom 
must  be  still  better.     Why  not  go  at  once  to  some 
Romish  church,  where  you  will  be  certain  to  find  all 
you  are  yearning  for,  without  the  toil,  and  the  delay, 
and  the  unseemliness,  of  attempting  to  effect  this  trans- 
formation in  churches  established  to  protest  against  a 
sensuous  religion  ?     The  glory  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion is  its  spirituality.     Herein  it  is  the  poles  away 
from  any  and  all  of  the  false  religions.     Its  beauty  and 
strenofth  lie  in  its  holiness.     Its  rites  and  ordinances 
are  but  the  orraceful  setting  for  those  sublime  truths 
through  which  we  behold  the  King  in  His  glory.     As 
you  enlarge  the  frames    you  exclude  the  light,  and 
obscure  the  throne  and  Him  who  sits  upon  it.     In 
other  words,  the  whole  moral  power  of  the  church  lies 
in  its  conformity  to  its  Lord  and  its  spiritual  com- 
munion with  Him.    This  destroyed,  it  not  only  becomes 
impotent  to  all  the  beneficent  ends  it  was  designed  to 
accomplish,  but  its  mighty  enginery  is  thenceforward 
turned  to  augment  and  accelerate  the  multitudinous 
evil  forces  which  are  hurrying  men  to  destruction. 


124  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

Most  cheering  is  it  to  note  that  a  re-action  has 
taken  place  since  the  pubhcation  of  the  sermon  just 
quoted.  In  every  direction  congregations  are  re- 
asserting their  right  to  take  part  in  the  office  of  praise. 
And  our  Missionary  friend  might  draw  comfort  from 
the  assurance  that  in  our  own  communion  this  musical 
mania  seems  to  have  passed  its  crisis.  Here  and 
there  a  church  will  still  indulge  itself  in  the  extrava- 
gance and  sensationalism  of  operatic  entertainments; 
but  the  indications  point  to  a  general  revival  of  the 
ancient  psalmody  in  conformity  with  the  inspired 
canon,  "Let  the  people  praise  Thee,  O  God,  let  all 
the  people  praise  Thee." 

Not  to  advert  to  other  changes  in  the  externals  of 
our  worship,  may  I  be  allowed,  in  this  connection,  to 
suggest  one  or  two  further  changes  as  being  in  my 
view  desirable.  After  forty  years'  observation  and 
experience,  I  am  not  satisfied  with  the  ritual  of  any 
denomination.  An  imposed  Liturgy,  minute  and  in- 
flexible, which  is  by  many  devout  Christians  held  to  be 
only  less  precious  than  the  Bible,  would  be  to  me  as 
much  a  yoke  of  bondage  as  would  have  been  the 
Levitical  ceremonial  to  the  early  disciples.  But  care- 
fully composed  forms  of  prayer  were  much  in  use 
among  the  Reformers,  and  are  to  be  found  in  the 
writings  of  most  of  those  illustrious  men  whose  names 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  125 

adorn  the  annals  of  the  Presbyterian  churches  of 
Europe.  The  weak  point  in  our  services  is  the  de- 
votional offices ;  the  preaching  is  better  than  the  pray- 
ino-.  The  gift  of  prayer  is  but  scantily  bestowed  upon 
some  who  are  not  lacking  in  the  grace  of  prayer. 
And  ministers  who  are  liberally  endowed  in  this  re- 
spect, are  not  always  able  to  coTnmand  the  sacred 
faculty.  Every  Pastor  knows  what  it  is  to  go  to  his 
pulpit  with  an  aching  head,  with  nerves  all  ajar  from 
a  sleepless  night,  burdened  with  some  sorrow,  harassed 
with  some  vexing  care,  or  otherwise  unfitted  to  preach, 
and  still  more  unfitted  to  lead  his  people  to  the  mercy- 
seat,  and  speak  with  and  for  them  to  our  Father  in 
heaven.  What  a  relief  would  it  be  to  pastors  in  cir- 
cumstances like  these,  to  have  at  hand  some  suitable 
form  of  prayer;  and  how  much  would  it  contribute  to 
the  edification  of  believers.  Why  should  not  our 
General  Assembly  provide  a  few  such  forms,  not  to 
be  imposed  upon  the  ministry,  but  to  be  used  by  them 
at  their  discretion;  and  also  to  supply  an  obvious 
want  where  vacant  congregations  meet  for  worship 
without  the  presence  of  a  minister? 

Again,  if  our  methods  could  be  revised,  I  should  in- 
sist upon  the  concert  of  pastor  and  people  in  the 
audible  offering  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  reciting 
of  the  Apostles'  Creed  once  every  Sabbath,  together 


126  Fo7'tieth  Annivei^sary. 

with  the  responsive  "Amen,"  at  the  end  of  every 
prayer.  In  respect  to  the  Creed,  there  are  probably 
many  Presbyterians  who  are  ignorant  that  it  is  the 
common  heritage  of  the  churches,  and  that  it  is  always 
included  in  our  "Confession  of  Faith."  The  Super- 
intendents of  our  own  Sunday  and  Mission-schools 
having  judiciously  introduced  these  two  exercises  into 
their  stated  services,  the  way,  it  is  hoped,  may  be 
opened  for  copying  the  example  in  our  ordinary 
Sabbath  worship. 

It  has  long  since  passed  into  a  proverb,  that  as  men 
advance  in  years  they  are  prone  to  disparage  the  pre- 
sent in  the  interest  of  the  past.  Some  of  the  young 
men  before  me  have  doubtless  been  ready  to  exclaim, 
while  sitting  here,  "Say  not  thou,  'What  is  the  cause 
that  the  former  days  were  better  than  these?'  for  thou 
dost  not  inquire  wisely  concerning  this,"  It  is  no 
more  a  sentiment  of  mine,  that  "the  former  days  were 
better  than  these,"  than  it  is  that  these  days  are  what 
they  ought  to  be.  No  candid  man  can  review  the 
records  of  the  last  fort)'  years,  without  conceding  the 
fitness  of  the  verdict  that  marks  this  age  as  an  "age 
of  progress."  An  illimitable  field,  replete  with  the 
trophies  of  genius  and  skill,  opens  its  alluring  pano- 
rama to  the  eye  just  here.  But  let  us  confine  our 
view  for  the  present  to  the  church.     Christianity,  as 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  127 

already  intimated,  has  become  a  greater  power  in  the 
earth  than  ever  before.  It  is  more  widely  diffused. 
It  has  more  disciples.  It  is  making  itself  more  de- 
cisively felt  in  the  affairs  of  cabinets  and  nations. 
There  are  encouraging  signs  of  a  growing  unification 
of  its  energies,  looking  to  more  systematic  and  vigor- 
ous assaults  upon  the  grand  domain  of  sin  and  Satan. 
And  at  no  period  has  the  Evangelical  Church  had 
more  reason  to  "thank  God  and  take  courage."  The 
distinctive  feature  which  reveals  itself  in  these  several 
characteristics,  is  the  presence  of  the  lay  element.  This  is 
the  most  important  change  which  has  taken  place  in 
the  practical  administration  of  the  church  for  these 
four  decades, — the  waking  up  and  organizing  of  the 
Christian  laity  for  Christian  work.  We  are  not  to  re- 
proach former  generations  with  their  supineness,  how- 
ever much  we  may  deplore  it.  The  light  was  not 
vouchsafed  to  them,  which  shines  upon  us.  Not  by  a 
sudden  vault,  by  a  slow  and  contested  progress  has 
the  vital  principle  struggled  up  to  its  true  position  in 
the  consciousness  of  the  church,  that  the  universal 
law  of  Christ's  kingdom  is  service;  that  the  duty  and 
privilege  of  laboring  in  the  Master's  vineyard  is  no 
exclusive  function  of  the  ministry;  that  the  entire  host 
of  God's  chosen,  irrespective  of  age,  sex,  or  condition, 
are  to  go  out  into  the  great  field,  which  is  the  world, 


128  Fortieth  Anniversary, 

some  to  plant,  some  to  water,  some  to  reap,  some  to 
gather  up  the  sheaves  and  carry  them  in  to  the  gar- 
ner, some  to  thresh  the  grain  and  winnow  the  wheat 
from  the  chaff — every  one  to  do  something,  "to 
every  man  his  work."  This  is  the  doctrine  pro- 
claimed from  the  Evangelical  pulpits,  in  the  social 
prayer  meetings,  in  the  Sunday-schools,  and  by  the 
religious  press  in  multitudinous  forms.  And  through 
the  potent  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit  upon  men's 
hearts,  it  has  been  cordially  accepted,  and  so  far  car- 
ried out  into  practice,  that  Christians  who  are  really 
such,  no  longer  feel  comfortable  unless  they  are 
making  some  effort,  if  not  to  aid  in  propelling  the 
chariot  of  salvation,  at  least  to  remove  here  and  there 
an  impediment  from  the  track. 

If  you  would  see  the  fruits  of  this  genuine  revival 
of  Scriptural  Christianity,  look  abroad.  One  of  its 
palpable  results  is  at  our  doors,  in  the  enlarged  scope 
that  has  been  given  (not  however  without  a  certain 
incidental  abuse,  to  be  mentioned  hereafter,)  to  the 
Sunday-school  system.  No  strong  church  is  now 
content  without  its  Mission-school.  Not  one  of  our 
cities  that  is  not  dotted  over  with  these  schools.  They 
are  furnishing  grateful  instruction  to  the  deserving 
poor ;  and  diffusing  the  savor  of  the  Gospel  through 
many  a  neighborhood  only  a  step  removed  from  ab- 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  129 

solute  barbarism ;  while  in  their  reflex  influence,  they 
are  ministering  purity  and  vigor  to  the  piety  of  the 
churches. 

Not  less  efficient  are  the  numerous  societies  and 
institutions  which  the  inventive  philanthropy  of  the 
day  has  devised  for  the  relief  of  every  type  of  suffer- 
ing and  want.  Not  only  are  millions  of  money  con- 
tributed for  their  support,  but  a  vast  army  of  faithful 
workers — many  among  them  ladies  of  wealth  and  high 
social  position — are  enlisted  in  their  service,  and  de- 
voting their  time  and  toil  to  the  well-being  of  these 
suffering  classes.  What  need  we  (let  it  be  asked  in 
passing,)  of  organized  "Sisterhoods"  to  do  this  work? 
The  Romish  Church  abounds  with  these  fraternities  ; 
and  every  one  must  honor  the  courage  and  kindness 
they  so  often  display  in  times  of  famine  and  pestilence. 
But  is  Protestantism  without  its  Sisters  of  Charity 
and  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  Sisters  of  all  the  other 
graces  ?  Wearing  no  distinctive  garb  and  bound  by 
no  technical  code,  they  attract  less  notice  than  their 
Roman  sisters  ;  but  are  they  not  relatively  far  more 
numerous,  and  do  they  not  practice  as  much  self- 
denial,  and  is  not  their  ministry  fulfilled  with  quite  as 
much  fidelity,  and  gentleness,  and  constancy  ?  As 
things  now  are,  all  Christian  females  amongst  us  are 
instructed  to  reg^ard  themselves  as  dedicated  to  these 

17 


130  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

and  their  kindred  offices,  so  far  as  Providence  may 
open  the  way.  If  a  separate  "  Order  "  were  created 
for  the  purpose,  would  not  the  tendency  and  ultimate 
effect  be  to  concentrate  this  entire  work  in  the  hands 
of  its  members— thus  discouraging  personal  activity 
among  devout  women  outside  of  the  society,  to  their 
own  loss,  the  loss  of  the  poor,  and  the  detriment  of 
the  church  ?  And  has  not  this  been  the  historical  re- 
sult in  the  Romish  communion  ? 

It  were  alike  superfluous  and  impracticable  to  recite 
here  even  the  titles  of  the  benevolent  associations 
which  have  sprung  up  in  the  path  of  Christianity, 
within  the  last  forty  years.  Like  new  planets  and  as- 
teroids, "  still  they  come ;"  and  the  church's  firmament 
is  growing  more  brilliant  every  year.  Nor  its  firma- 
ment only.  It  is  gradually  dispelling  the  thick  dark- 
ness of  Paganism,  and  covering  the  earth  with  a  robe 
of  light  and  beauty.  God  in  His  mercy  is  opening  all 
lands  to  the  heralds  of  salvation.  The  marvellous 
triumphs  of  science  and  art  have  brought  remote 
countries  into  such  near  fellowship,  that  whereas,  in 
1830,  it  took  Missionaries  six  months  to  make  the 
journey  to  certain  fields,  there  is  perhaps  no  point  on 
the  surface  of  the  globe  which  it  might  be  desirable 
for  a  Missionary  to  visit,  that  he  could  not  reach  from 
any  other  point  in  six  weeks.     And  intelligence  from 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  131 

most  of  these  regions  is  flashed  over  the  globe  in  a 
few  hours.  But  I  must  not  dwell  upon  this  inviting 
theme. 

Among  the  choice  fruits,  however,  yielded  by  the 
Christianity  of  the  last  forty  years,  there  is  one  other 
which  it  were  inexcusable  to  pass  over;  I  mean  the 
creation  of  a  religious  literature  adapted  to  the  times, 
and  with  special  provision  for  the  young.  Comparing 
these  two  epochs,  the  first  was  marked  with  such  a 
dearth  of  juvenile  religious  books  of  an  approved 
character,  that  the  acrorreofate  did  not  exceed  a  few 
dozens  of  volumes.  Now  this  handful  has  swelled  into 
many  thousands.  Nor  Sunday-school  books  alone. 
No  former  period  has  rivalled  the  present  in  the  pro- 
duction of  Commentaries,  larcre  and  small,  Dictionaries, 
Cyclopoedias,  and  other  helps  to  the  study  of  the 
Bible;  nor  was  the  Bible  itself  ever  published  at  so 
cheap  a  rate  nor  so  widely  circulated.  Whatever  pro- 
fusion may  have  signalized  the  issues  in  any  other  de- 
partment, the  religious  press  has  achieved  an  easy 
pre-eminence  alike  as  to  the  quantity  and  the  quality 
of  its  products.  These  facts  are  decisive  as  indicating 
the  advanced  scholarship,  the  enlightened  piety,  and 
the  practical  philanthropy  which  distinguish  the  church 
of  our  day.  For,  next  to  its  own  ordinances,  the  press 
must  be  reo-arded  as  its  rio-ht  arm  for  the  discomfiture 


132  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

of  error,  and  the  maintenance  and  diffusion  of  God's 
truth. 

You  will  now  acquit  me  of  any  illiberal  depreciation 
of  the  present,  or  any  blind  idolatry  of  the  past,  if  I 
venture  to  shift  the  lens  a  little,  and  to  hint  that  the 
picture  we  are  looking  at  is  made  up,  like  all  other 
pictures,  of  light  and  shade.  Some  of  the  shadows 
have  been  glanced  at.  If  there  are  others  which  stand 
out  in  strong  relief,  it  may  be  owing  to  the  orient 
back-ground.  It  is  when  the  moon  is  brightest  we 
see  its  m.ountains  most  plainly. 

Taking  a  second  glance,  then,  at  the  Christianity  of 
the  day,  and  measuring  it  by  the  standard  of  1830, 
what  do  we  see  ?  It  has  more  wealth,  more  gene- 
ral culture,  more  of  the  Missionary^  spirit,  a  higher 
range  of  liberality,  and  far  greater  activity  in  propa- 
gating itself.  These  attributes,  as  already  intimated, 
are  slightly  marred  by  the  taint  of  a  bustling,  ostenta- 
tious element,  which  seems,  ever  and  anon,  to  cry  out 
with  Jehu,  "Come,  see  my  zeal  for  the  Lord!"  More 
conspicuous  still  is  the  coquetry  that  has  been  going 
on  between  the  church  and  the  world.  The  world,  too, 
has  been  erowingr  richer.  It  affects  more  state  and 
splendor.  It  is  more  addicted  to  shows  and  sports. 
And  now  that  religion  has  come  to  be  such  a  power, 
it  pays  court  to  the  church,  seeks  its  society,  tenders 


Fortieth  Afniiversary.  133 

it  its  wardrobes,  invites  it  to  its  entertainments  of 
every  kind,  and  begging  forgiveness  for  the  un- 
gracious transaction  of  Calvary,  and  the  slaughter  of 
a  few  millions  of  Christians  since  that  event,  prays 
that  the  church  and  itself  may  henceforth  be  good 
friends — meaning  thereby  that  the  church  is  to  don 
its  livery,  to  go  wherever  it  goes,  do  whatsoever  it 
does,  and  exchange  its  old  puritanical  yoke  for  one  of 
its  own  make,  of  a  much  easier  pattern.  And  how 
does  the  church  receive  the  world's  proposals?  Very 
much  as  Eve  did  the  tempter's.  At  first  with  min- 
gled astonishment  and  resentment. 

"  Thee,  Serpent,  subtlest  breast  of  all  the  field 

"  I  knew,  but  not  with  human  voice  endued  ; 

"  Redouble  then  this  miracle  and  say, 

"  How  cam'st  thou  speakable  of  mute,  and  how 

"  To  me  so  friendly  grown  above  the  rest 

"  Of  brutal  kind,  that  daily  are  in  sight  ?  " 

You  will  recall  his  reply,  a  marvel  of  ingenious 
and  fatal  sophistry;  and  then  follows  the  impression  it 
made  upon  her. 

"  He  ended,  and  his  words  replete  with  guile, 
"  Into  her  heart  too  easy  entrance  won  : 
"  Fixed  on  the  fruit  she  gazed,  which  to  behold 
"  Might  tempt  alone ;  and  in  her  ears  the  sound 
"Yet  rung  of  his  persuasive  words,  impregn'd 
"  With  reason,  to  her  seeming,  and  with  truth."* 

*  Par.  Lost,  B.  ix. 


134  Fortieth  Aiiiiivei^sary. 

Here,  If  I  mistake  not,  is  the  precise  posture  of 
affairs  between  the  church,  rather  between  a  certain 
influential  portion  of  the  church  comprising  people  of 
almost  every  communion,  and  the  world.  One  large 
wing  has  surrendered.  Another  large  wing  stands 
firm  as  a  rock.  While  between  the  two,  the  centre 
parleys  with  the  world — now  consenting,  now  re- 
fusing— but  agitated  continually  with  throes  of  con- 
science, and  leaving  by-standers  in  painful  suspense 
as  to  the  final  issue. '  Some  of  you  will  live  to  see,  and 
(as  may  be)  to  deplore  or  to  rejoice  in  it.  I  shall  not. 
But  every  true  believer  must  lament  that  the  Lamb's 
Bride  should  tolerate  such  advances  from  His  crucifier. 

Another  shadow  demands  notice — one  which  links 
itself  on  the  one  hand  with  our  current  Sunday  School 
system,  and  on  the  other,  with  what  I  cannot  but  re- 
gard as  the  ill-advised  change  which  has  occured  since 
' 2i1  aniong  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  our  city,  in 
transferring  the  second  Sabbath  service  from  the  after- 
noon to  the  evening.  You  will  anticipate  me  as  re- 
ferring to  the  deteriorated  family-life  of  our  day,  and 
its  bearings  upon  the  welfare  of  the  church.  Having 
published  my  views  upon  this  subject  of  transcendent 
importance,*  I  shall  make  no  apology  for  quoting  a 
few  paragraphs  apposite   to   the   present  discussion. 

*  In  the  "  Christian  Weekly^''  the  admirable  paper  of  the  American  Tract  Society. 


Foi'ticth  Anniversary.  135 

It  is  about  time  for  our  Evangfelical  churches  to  con- 
sider  the  question,   What  is  to  become  of  the  Family? 

That  the  family  is  a  divine  institution  and,  as  such, 
to  be  sacredly  cherished,  is  an  article  of  the  creed 
which  they  all  hold  in  common.  But  whether  it  be 
held,  generally,  as  a  living",  fruit-bearing  principle,  or 
as  a  dead  letter,  is  a  point  not  definitely  settled. 

As  regards  the  place  assigned  to  the  family  in  the 
Christianity  of  the  fathers,  there  is  no  room  for  a 
diversity  of  opinion.  Recognizing  its  charter  as  an- 
tedating that  of  the  church,  and  bearing  the  King's 
image  and  superscription,  the  early  Christians,  tread- 
ing in  the  steps  of  the  devout  Jews,  paid  special  honor 
to  the  domestic  constitution,  and  scrupulously  fulfilled 
its  religious  obligations.  Tertullian  and  Jerome  have 
dwelt  upon  the  conscientious  care  with  which  house- 
hold piety  w^as  cultivated  in  the  ancient  church.  The 
same  healthful  token  reappeared  at  the  Reformation. 
With  the  emancipation  of  the  church  from  Roman 
bondage,  the  family  began  to  resume  its  scriptural 
position,  to  reassert  its  hereditary  rights,  and  to  ex- 
ercise its  prescribed  functions.  No  intelligent  Chris- 
tian can  require  to  be  informed  of  the  dignity  and 
sacredness  with  which  the  family  was  invested  among 
the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland,  the  Puritans  and  Non- 
conformists of  England,  and  the  Colonists  who  founded 


136  Fortieth  A7iniversary. 

our  Eastern  States.  Nor  would  it  be  difficult  to  show, 
that  to  the  wise  and  generous  culture  so  sedulously  be- 
stowed upon  their  homes  by  the  earlier  generations  of 
these  illustrious  immigrants,  is  largely  to  be  traced 
whatever  is  of  choicest  value  in  our  national  character. 
As  the  family  is  older  than  the  church,  so  it  is  the 
universal  and  indestructible  unit,  both  of  the  church 
and  of  the  state,  by  God's  appointment  co-ordinated 
with  them,  and  made  essential  to  their  proper  develop- 
ment and  stability.  It  has  its  own  rights,  duties,  and 
privileges.  Within  its  legitimate  sphere,  its  authority 
is  paramount.  Neither  the  church  nor  the  state  may 
lawfully  intrude  upon  its  domain.  Established  for 
certain  ends,  its  adaptation  to  those  ends  is  marked 
with  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  which  pertain  to 
all  the  Divine  arrangements.  What  could  be  more 
beautiful,  what  (duly  administered)  more  effective, 
than  an  organism  which  thus  "  sets  the  solitary  in 
families,"  insures  to  parents  the  gradual  nurture  and 
unfolding  of  all  their  purest  and  best  powers  and  sus- 
ceptibilities, and  surrounds  children  with  an  atmos- 
phere impregnated  with  blended  authority  and  love  ? 
Not  to  speak  of  the  social  and  civil  bearings  of  this 
system,  its  auspicious  aspect  towards  the  church  is  too 
apparent  to  require  elucidation.  The  family  life 
flows  into  the  broad  stream  of  the  church  life,  and  the 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  137 

church  Hfe  flows  into  the  ten  thousand  rivulets  of 
the  family  life  ;  and  so  each  nourishes  the  other.  But 
this  only  happens — except  in  some  imperfect  degree — 
when  each  keeps  within  its  own  orbit.  The  family 
cannot  do  the  work  of  the  church  ;  nor  can  the  church 
do  the  work  of  the  family.  And  this  brings  us  to  the 
topic  suggested  by  the  inquiry:  "What  is  to  become 
of  the  family  ?" 

Thoughtful  men  of  all  professions  are  alarmed  at 
the  growing  laxity  of  the  domestic  ties  in  our  country. 
The  proportion  of  divorces  to  marriages  is  something 
frightful.  Parental  government  is  giving  place  to  the 
despotism  of  children.  Families  are  becoming  mere 
heaps  of  stones  without  cement  or  symmetry,  which 
fall  to  pieces  with  the  slightest  pressure  whether  from 
within  or  from  without.  The  general  drift,  even  of 
the  professedly  Christian  body,  is  palpably  towards 
the  world.  Very  few  young  men  of  the  class  that 
may  be  designated  as  "  in  society "  now  enter  the 
ministry.  And  among  those  who  do  not  come  to  the 
Lord's  table,  the  church  herself  scarcely  recognizes 
any  difference  between  the  children  of  Christians  who 
have  been  dedicated  in  prayer  and  baptism  to  God,  and 
the  children  of  the  world. 

It  were  quite  invalid  to  refer  this  untoward  condition 

of  things  to  any  one  cause.     But  the  church  herself 
i8 


138  Fortieth  Anniversaiy. 

cannot  be  held  guiltless  in  the  matter.  The  church, 
it  is  true,  is  increasing  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  power. 
Its  array  of  benevolent  institutions  would  have  done 
honor  to  any  age  of  Christianity.  Its  ceaseless  activi- 
ties at  home  and  abroad  are  yielding  fruit  to  the  praise 
of  God's  glorious  grace.  But  if,  as  many  careful  ob- 
servers surmise,  the  stream  has  more  breadth  than 
depth,  and  threatens  to  run  shallower  still,  may  not  a 
partial  reason  for  it  be  found  in  the  practical  dispar- 
agement of  the  family  on  the  part  of  the  church? 
"  How  can  this  be,"  some  zealous  worker  may  ex- 
claim, "when  the  church  is  so  prodigal  of  her  labors 
on  behalf  of  the  young  ?"  Let  me  answer  by  remind- 
ing you  that,  according  to  the  word  of  God,  the  church 
is  endowed  with  a  three-fold  function,  to  wit:  Evolution, 
Acquisition,  and  Edification.  Our  own  standards,  in 
common  with  those  of  the  other  historic  churches,  lay 
great  stress  upon  the  first  of  these — the  increase  and 
expansion  of  the  church  from  within.  The  children  of 
believers  receive  the  seal  of  baptism,  because  they  are 
members  of  the  church.  As  such,  "  they  are  to  be 
taught  to  read  and  repeat  the  catechism,  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  They  are  to  be  taught 
to  pray,  to  abhor  sin,  to  fear  God,  and  to  obey  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And,  when  they  come  to  years  of 
discretion,  if  they  be  free  from  scandal,  appear  sober 


FortietJi  Anniversary.  1^9 

and  steady,  and  to  have  sufficient  knowledge  to  discern 
the  Lord's  body,  they  ought  to  be  informed  it  is  their 
duty  and  privilege  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper."* 
What  prominence  does  the  church  give  in  her  minis- 
trations to  the  domestic  constitution,  as  thus  defined  ? 
How  far  are  parents  instructed  in  their  imperative 
duties,  and  assisted  in  the  discharge  of  them  ?  With 
\vhat  measure  of  fidelity  does  the  pulpit  set  forth  the 
all-important  truth,  that  believing  parents,  relying 
upon  the  promised  blessing  of  God,  ought  to  count 
upon  their  offspring  being  early  called  into  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  and  oTOwino-  up  into  religion  as  the 
children  of  God?  Or,  does  the  church  of  our  day, 
repudiating  this  Scriptural  doctrine  of  home-nurture, 
thrust  her  own  offspring  out  to  take  scot  and  lot  with 
the  children  of  the  world,  as  if  to  show  with  what  tact 
she  can  afterward  employ  her  solicitude  and  skill  in 
ways  and  means  for  bringing  them  back  again  ?  In 
a  word,  has  the  church  that  conception  of  the  family 
which  indisputably  entered  into  the  Christianity  ot  our 
fathers — that  it  is,  equally  with  the  church,  of  God's 
planting ;  that  it  was  designed  to  be  a  chief  means  of 
perpetuating  the  church;  that  the  church  must  extend 
to  it  instruction,  protection,  and  sympathy,  but  without 
attempting  to  arrogate  its  functions  or  curtail  its  pre- 

*  Directory  for  Worship,  ch.  ix. 


140  Fortieth  Anniversary . 

rop-atives ;  and  that  any  unlawful  meddlino-  with  its 
mechanism  must  be  no  less  hurtful  to  itself  than  to 
the  family  ? 

As  in  contravention  of  these  radical  principles,  the 
family  is  now-a-days  quite  overshadowed  by  the 
Sunday-school.  An  institution  originally  devised  by 
Christian  philanthropy  for  the  benefit  of  poor,  outcast 
children,  has  gradually  enlarged  its  sphere  until  it  not 
only  comprehends  all  the  children  of  the  church,  but 
is  practically  deemed  of  more  importance  to  the  cause 
of  Christ  than  the  family  itself,  God's  own  ordinance. 
This  is  not  said  by  way  of  disparaging  Sunday- 
schools.  They  are  of  priceless  value  to  the  church 
and  to  the  world.  Would  that  they  mio^ht  be  multi- 
plied  throughout  all  our  spiritual  wastes,  and  made  a 
hundred-fold  more  efficient.  But  is  not  the  system 
so  managed  that  it  tends  to  undermine  and  supersede 
the  family  ?  In  terms,  parents  are  reminded  that 
their  obligfations  cannot  be  transferred  to  the  Sabbath- 
school  teacher.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  not  the 
Sunday-school  magnified  both  by  the  pulpit  and  the 
religious  press  far  above  the  family?  Where  one 
word  is  uttered  on  behalf  of  the  family,  or  one  sermon 
or  address  devoted  to  it,  are  not  twenty  given  to  the 
Sunday-school  ?  Is  not  the  parent  unconsciously 
putting  off  his  duties  upon  the  teacher,  and  the  family 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  141 

life  more  and  more  merging  itself  in  the  Sunday- 
school  life  ?  And  is  not  the  family  step  by  step 
yielding  the  high  position  assigned  to  it  in  the  economy 
of  God's  kingdom,  to  an  institution  which,  however 
commendable,  should  be  used  only  as  an  auxiliary  to 
the  family  and  the  church? 

The  Sunday-school  is  here  referred  to  in  its  ordi- 
nary type,  as  connected  with  many  of  our  best  churches. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  speak  of  the  growing  abuses 
of  the  system — the  ostentation,  the  ambition,  the 
worldly  methods,  the  theatrical  trumpery^  with  which 
it  is  so  often  disfigured,  and  which  are  equally  offensive 
to  good  taste  and  to  serious  piety.  The  question, 
"  Whereunto  will  these  things  go  ?"  is  beginning  to 
attract  attention  ;  and  if  the  mischievous  nonsense 
proceed  much  further,  we  may  expect  to  see  judicious 
parents  withdrawing  their  children  from  the  Sunday- 
school  altocT-ether. 

Dismissing  that  topic,  there  is  another  quarter  in 

which  the  church  holds  out  a  threatening-  visacje  to- 
es o 

wards  the  family,  viz, :  in  wresting  from  it  its  here- 
ditary claim  to  Sunday  evening.  To  preclude  mis- 
conception, it  is  freely  granted  that  the  surroundings 
of  a  congregation  may  be  such  as  to  justify  and  even 
to  require  stated  public  worship  on  the  evening  of 
the  Lord's  Day.     It  is  important,  also,  that  in   every 


142  Fortieth  Anniversaiy. 

large  city,  some  churches  should  be  open  every 
Sabbath  night — a  provision  happily  secured  under  the 
old  Philadelphia  regime^  whereby  each  church  had  one 
Sunday  evening  service  every  month.  But,  con- 
ceding these  points,  has  the  church  any  warrant  so  to 
appropriate  the  entire  Sabbath,  as  to  deprive  the 
family  of  all  fit  opportunity  for  its  religious  and  social 
duties  ?  The  Scriptural  conception  of  the  family  as  a 
miniature  church  with  its  altar,  its  priest,  its  congre- 
gation, and  its  worship,  is  theoretically  accepted  on 
every  side.  But  there  is  one  element  not  specified 
here,  in  the  absence  of  which  the  well-ordered  ma- 
chine becomes  simply  a  polished  engine  without  any 
steam.  How  can  there  be  worship,  whether  public 
or  domestic,  without  a  fixed  sacred  season  ?  And 
what  season  is  secured  to  the  household  church? 
The  morning  of  the  Sabbath  is  given  to  the  sanctuary, 
the  afternoon  to  the  Sunday-school,  and  the  evening 
again  to  the  sanctuary.  The  family  is  ignored.  The 
arrangement  is  precisely  that  which  would  obtain  if 
the  family  organization  had  no  existence.  To  urge 
that  the  services  proper  to  that  primeval  church  can 
be  adequately  cared  for  in  the  broken  parentheses  of 
time  between  the  three  public  services,  is  to  betray  a 
very  meagre  conception  of  the  domestic  institute  and 
its  hio-h  aims  and  inalienable  functions.      What  the 


Fortieth  Annivei'sary .  143 

case  demands  is,  a  regular  convocation  of  the  entire 
family,  for  systematic  instruction  in  the  Word  of  God 
and  the  catechisms  proper  to  the  respective  denomi- 
nations, for  prayer,  the  singing  of  hymns,  the  reading 
of  suitable  books  and  that  free,  confidential,  hearty, 
joyful  intercourse,  which  the  Psalmist  no  doubt  had  in 
view  when  he  said,  "  The  voice  of  rejoicing  and  salva- 
tion is  in  the  tabernacles  of  the  righteous,"  All  the 
greater  need  of  this  is  there,  because  in  our  busy 
metropolitan  life  (to  speak  only  of  cities)  men  see 
very  little  of  their  families  from  Monday  morning  to 
Saturday  night.  While  they  might,  perhaps,  gather 
their  households  together  of  a  Sunday  afternoon,  the 
season,  as  just  intimated,  is  not  favorable  and  does 
not  invite  to  it.  So  that  Sabbath  evening,  as  it  is  the 
natural,  so  it  is  virtually  the  only  period  of  the  seven 
days  when  these  grateful  reunions  can  be  held.  How 
much  they  would  contribute,  if  generally  observed,  to 
invigorate  the  domestic  ties,  and  to  counteract  that 
strong  tendency  to  the  premature  dispersion  of  fami- 
lies which  is  stimulated  alike  by  the  geographical  and 
the  political  conditions  of  our  country,  must  be  ap- 
parent to  every  one  whose  natural  affections  have 
not  been  dwarfed  or  paralyzed. 

An  elaborate  argument,  indeed,  might   be  framed 
just  here,  in  favor  of  restoring  the  family  to  its  true 


14-4  Fortieth  Anniversa7y. 

position  as  a  religious  ordinance,  by  way  of  repressing 
that  filial  insubordination  and  juvenile  arrogance  which 
are  the  opprobrium  of  American  society.  Enough, 
that  this  return  to  early  usages  would  conduce  to  the 
well-being  of  famihes;  that  it  would  bring  into  the 
church  a  generous  succession  of  intelligent,  conscien- 
tious, and  stable  Christians ;  and  that  it  would  tell  with 
beneficent  effect  upon  all  our  social  and  civil  interests. 

Let  the  church  then,  cease  to  monopolize  the  day 
of  rest  with  her  public  services.  Let  her  recognize 
the  family  as,  equally  with  herseif,  a  divine  institution, 
with  chartered  rights  and  imperative  duties  as  sacred  as 
her  own.  Let  her  take  her  usurping  hands  off  the  Sab- 
bath evenine;  exalt  the  family  in  her  current  ministra- 
tions;  keep  the  Sunday-school  to  its  legitimate  sphere; 
and  use  every  scriptural  means  to  foster  household 
piety,  and  to  cultivate  those  graces  which  have  their 
true  rooting  and  find  their  best  development  under 
the  parental  roof-tree.  Thus  shall  the  church  and 
the  family  resume  their  normal  relations,  and  each  be- 
come once  more  to  the  other  a  source  of  strength  and 
peace  and  enduring  prosperity. 

At  the  close  of  forty  years,  more  pregnant  with 
great  events  and  with  human  progress  than  any 
equivalent  term  since  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  you  will 
expect  me  to  glance  (it  is  impossible  to  do  more)  at 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  14  o 

some  few  of  the  salient  points  that  stand  out  in  the 
history  of  this  period.  Of  the  three  European  and 
two  American  wars  which  have  taken  place,  it  must 
suffice  if  I  barely  allude  to  our  own  fratricidal  conflict, 
which,  by  God's  great  mercy,  resulted  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  cherished  Union.  A  single  reminiscence 
only  I  wish  to  put  on  record  here,  partly  because  it 
connects  itself  with  the  tone  of  our  Christianity,  and 
partly  for  a  reason  personal  to  myself  Immediately 
on  the  surrender  of  the  Southern  forces  in  April,  '65, 
you  listened  to  a  sermon  from  this  pulpit  entitled, 
"The  Peacemakers,"  in  which  it  was  attempted  to 
show  that  "the  true  function  of  the  church  in  respect 
to  war  is  threefold,  (i.)  If  possible,  to  prevent  war. 
(2.)  If  this  be  unavoidable,  to  attemper  and  mitigate 
it.  And  (3)  to  do  whatever  may  be  lawful  and  right 
to  bring  war  to  an  end,  and  to  restore  a  just,  humane, 
and  Christian  peace."  Seven  weeks  afterwards,  the 
war  being  over,  you  listened  to  another  sermon,  en- 
titled, "The  Peace  we  need,  and  how  to  secure  it." 

A  sentence  or  two  from  this  sermon  may  exhibit  its 
aim  and  purport. 

"A  lofty  mission  it  is  that  invites  our  efforts.     To 

heal  our  country's  wounds,  to  repair  its  desolations, 

to  soothe  its  sorrows,  to  allay  its  enmities,  to  replace 

prejudice,  discord,  and  confusion,  with  candor,  respect, 
19 


146  Fof'iieth  Anniversary. 

and  kindness;  and  to  resuscitate  the  various  agencies, 
moral  and  material,  which  may  cement  the  Union,  and 
renew  its  prosperity; — this  is  the  sublime  task  which 
invokes  the  generous  co-operation  of  all  lovers  of 
their  country.  Its  difficult^'  is  conceded.  But  there 
is  a  power,  and  only  one,  by  which  it  can  be  accom- 
plished," "The  pervading  presence  and  power  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  is  the  grand  necessity  of  our  countr}'." 
Both  these  sermons  were  published  by  the  con- 
current action  of  gentlemen  in  the  congregation  rep- 
resenting the  two  great  political  parties.  Meanwhile 
our  General  Assembly,  convening  at  Pittsburgh  in 
May,  '65,  while  the  countr}',  though  at  peace,  was  still 
rocking  with  the  convulsions  of  the  war,  passed  a 
series  of  denunciator)^  resolutions  against  the  South- 
ern Presbyterian  Church,  which  were  so  palpably  un- 
constitutional that  the  conscience  of  the  church  rejected 
them,  and  they  are  known  to  this  day  as  the  "  dead- 
letter  resolutions."  The  embers,  however,  which  had 
gone  out  in  the  watch-fires  of  the  army,  still  glowed 
not  only,  but  freshened  up  on  the  altars  of  the  church. 
The  General  Assembly  of  the  following  year,  ('66), 
in  session  at  St,  Louis,  adopted  several  sets  of  reso- 
lutions inspired  by  the  same  warlike  spirit,  and  one 
immediate  effect  of  which  was,  to  drive  from  us  the 
major  part  of  two  of  our  best  Synods,  Kentucky  and 


Fortieth  Anniversaiy.  147 

Missouri.  Being  a  member  of  that  body,  I  could  not 
forswear  my  conviction  that  it  is  the  prescribed  mis- 
sion of  the  church  to  heal  wounds,  not  to  exacerbate 
them,  to  repress  strife,  not  to  foment  it.  Co-operating, 
therefore,  with  a  small  minority  of  my  brethren, 
like-minded  with  myself,  I  withstood,  fruitlessly,  but 
to  the  utmost,  this  untoward  legislation.  As  I  thereby 
incurred  not  only  harsh  censures  from  without,  but 
the  displeasure  of  some  of  my  own  people,  I  feel  a 
peculiar  pleasure  in  reminding  you  that  the  entire 
church  has  now  come  to  the  ground  assumed  by  that 
humble  minority,  and  that  the  United  General  Assem- 
bly of  last  Spring,  by  a  luianimcnts  vote,  declared  the 
obnoxious  resolutions  of  '65  and  '66,  and  the  cor- 
responding measures  of  the  then  New  School  Assem- 
bly, to  be  "NULL  AND  VOID."  This  is  only  one  more 
proof  that  love  is  stronger  than  hate.  What  it  has 
done  it  can  do  again.  The  Southern  Church  now 
holds  aloof,  declining  the  fraternal  overtures  of  our 
Assembly,  But  it  cannot  last.  Two  great  bodies  of 
Christians  holding  the  same  Standards,  with  the  same 
government  and  worship,  allied  by  the  same  hallowed 
traditions,  and  seeking  the  same  ends,  though  rent 
asunder  by  war,  cannot  be  permanently  estranged.  I 
hazard  nothing  in  uttering  the  prophecy  that  there  are 
those  present  who  will  see  that  blessed  re-union  ac- 


148  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

complished,  for  which   so   many  anxious   and    loving 
hearts,  Nordi  and  South,  are  yearning. 

This  allusion  is  suggestive  of  the  most  important 
organic  change  which  has  occurred  within  the  period 
we  are  reviewing,  among  the  Presbyterians  of  our 
country.  I  mean  the  re-union  of  the  two  branches  of 
our  church.  It  was  not  without  serious  distrust  in 
various  quarters  that  this  consummation  was  brought 
about;  but  all  parties  are  now  satisfied  that  the  thing 
was  of  God,  and  that  there  is  a  blessing;  in  it.  As 
showing  the  growdi  of  the  church,  I  quote  the  essen- 
tial statistics  for  1833  (prior  to  the  disruption)  and 
1873.  The  Presbyteries  have  increased  from  128  to 
172,  Ministers,  from  1972  to  4534.  Churches,  from 
2,807  to  4,802.  Communicants,  from  219,126  to  472,- 
023,  For  the  ecclesiastical  year  ending  in  April  last, 
the  additions  to  the  church  by  profession  were  26,698, 
and  the  sum  contributed  for  ecclesiastical  and  benevo- 
lent purposes  was  $9,622,000.  Such  an  exhibit  as 
this  may  well  inspire  the  grateful  feeling,  "What 
hath  God  wrought !"  While  with  one  heart  and 
voice  we  praise  Him  for  His  "  wonderful  works  "  to 
us  and  ours,  it  will  be  the  reproach  and  sin  of  our 
half-million  of  communicants,  if  they  do  not  address 
themselves  with  renewed  energy,  faith  and  devotion, 
to  the  pleasing  and  responsible  mission   He  has  laid 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  149 

upon  them,  of  evangelizing  the  masses  at  home  and 
abroad.  This  cannot  be  done  effectively  even  by  the 
largest  supplies  of  men  and  money,  reinforced  by  the 
utmost  activity  in  the  use  of  them.  The  real  strength 
of  the  church  lies  in  its  "power  with  God."  And  this, 
a^ain,  lies  in  its  faith  and  holiness.  As  it  lengthens 
its  cords  it  must  strengthen  its  stakes.  Hand-work 
must  draw  its  sustenance  from  Heart-work.  This 
vital  point  protected — the  church  keeping  itself  un- 
spotted from  the  world,  and  leaning  only  upon  the 
Arm  of  its  Beloved — there  seems  no  reason  why  we 
should  not  look  to  see  a  still  greater  prosperity,  and 
nobler  victories  over  error  and  sin  than  any  hitherto 
vouchsafed  to  us. 

There  are  reasons  of  the  gravest  character  why  we 
should  aim  at  this.  Not  to  look  abroad,  every 
thoughtful  man  must  perceive  that  the  task  laid  upon 
the  Christianity  of  our  country  is  one  of  colossal  pro- 
portions. This  is  evident  enough  if  we  consider  only 
the  growing  millions  of  people  to  be  supplied  with  the 
means  of  grace,  multitudes  of  them  ignorant  and  de- 
praved, and,  in  remote  frontier  regions,  ever  tending 
towards  barbarism.  But  this  consideration  aside, 
there  are  four  unseemly  features  thrusting  themselves 
forth  upon  the  fair  seeming  of  the  Republic,  at  once 
too  conspicuous  to  be  ignored,  and  too  threatening  to 
be  trifled  with. 


150  Fortieth  Annivei'smy. 

One  of  these  is  the  new  phase  of  infideHty,  trans- 
planted from  Europe,  and  which  finds  here  a  genial 
soil.  Up  to  the  present  era,  the  great  leaders  of 
science  and  philosophy,  such  men,  for  example,  as 
Boyle,  Newton,  Herschell,  Cuvier,  Davy,  Locke,  Reid, 
Stewart,  Brown,  Edwards,  and  others,  have  usually 
had  their  place  among  the  disciples  of  the  cross.  Now 
a  school  of  scientists  and  another  school  of  metaphy- 
sicians have  arisen,  who,  hopelessly  distracted  among 
themselves,  are  agreed  in  denying  the  recorded  facts 
of  the  Bible,  and  all  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the 
old  historic  faith.  It  is  a  calumny  to  assert,  as  is  often 
done,  that  Christian  theologians  are  alarmed  at  the 
alleged  discoveries  and  specious  theories  of  these 
men.  We  feel  no  apprehension  that  the  rocks  or  the 
stars,  the  brute  animals  or  the  human  constitution,  can 
be  made,  unless  by  the  aid  of  the  rack  and  the  thumb- 
screw, to  yield  a  tittle  of  testimony  against  the  Divine 
origin  and  supreme  authority  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 
But  what  we  do  fear  is,  that  in  an  age  pre-eminent 
like  the  present  for  its  intellectual  pride,  the  lofty  pre- 
tensions of  these  teachers  may  mislead  and  destroy 
many  who  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  Bible,  and 
who  will  drink  in  the  poison  without  applying  the 
antidote. 

A  second  sign  upon  our  horizon   is  the   revival  of 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  151 

Romanism.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  the 
Papacy  had  reached  the  climax  of  its  dogmatic  here- 
sies at  the  Council  of  Trent.  The  world,  therefore, 
has  looked  on  with  amazement,  to  see  two  fresh  false- 
hoods of  horrid  mien  Invented  within  the  last  few 
years,  and,  under  penalty  of  anathema,  Imposed  upon 
the  consciences  of  Its  deluded  millions  as  God's  truth, 
to  wit :  the  Immaculate  Conception,  and  the  Infalli- 
bility of  the  Pope.  Whether  it  was  this  last  and 
greatest  stride  of  impiety  that  filled  Its  cup  of  iniquity 
to  the  brim,  we  know  not.  But  certain  It  Is,  that  from 
the  day  that  blasphemous  decree  was  enacted  the 
Papal  See  has  reaped  nothing  but  disaster  in  Europe. 
In  Italy,  Its  own  seat  of  empire,  In  Germany,  In  France, 
even  In  Austria  and  Spain,  it  has  encountered  con- 
stant defeat  and  humiliation.  But,  strange  to  say, 
baffled  and  prostrated  as  It  has  been  at  home,  it  Is 
seeking,  not  without  some  tokens  of  success,  to  re- 
construct its  dilapidated  throne  in  England  and 
America.  Helpless  in  Roman  Catholic  countries, 
which  have  wilted  under  its  baleful  sway.  It  is  natur- 
ally covetous  of  the  wealth,  anci  power,  and  happiness 
of  the  two  Qfreat  Protestant  nations  of  the  crlobe. 
England  and  the  United  States  have  become  the 
chosen  seats  of  Its  proselyting  schemes.  Need  we 
shrink  from    the  conflict    it    Invites?     By  no    means. 


152  Foi'tictJi  Anniversary. 

But  when  it  Is  considered  (i)  that  the  most  formidable, 
because  the  most  unscrupulous,  of  all  its  frateniitieF, 
the  Jesuits,  partially  or  absolutely  expelled  from 
various  European  vStates  thirty-nine  times  prior  to  the 
suppression  of  the  Order  in  1773,  and  now  once  more 
suppressed  by  the  Romish  Cabinets,  are  flocking  to 
our  shores,  and  will  largely  conduct  their  operations 
here  ;  (2)  that  there  are  tens  of  thousands  of  so-called 
Protestants  who  refuse  to  distinguish  between  oppo- 
sition to  a  corrupt  system  and  enmity  to  its  mis- 
guided followers;  censors  who  would  have  charged 
the  Saviour  with  hostility  to  the  Jewish  people  be- 
cause, in  very  kindness  to  their  souls.  He  warned 
them  against  the  unscriptural  glosses  and  traditions 
of  the  Pharisees;  (3)  that  the  whole  Ritualistic  w^ing 
of  one  of  our  prominent  sects  is  simply  a  well-ordered 
nursery  for  Rome;  and  (4)  that  we  have  on  every  side 
demagogues  who  would  not  scruple,  if  it  were  deemed 
politic,  to  barter  our  Public  School  system  or  anything 
else  we  have,  for  votes ;  when  these  things  are  con- 
sidered, it  will  be  acknowledged  that  our  Christianity 
must  have  all  its  resources  at  command,  if  it  would 
counterwork  the  devices  of  this  its  ancient  and  im- 
placable foe. 

One  of  the  topics  just  adverted  to  is  of  sufficient 
importance  to  be  noted  as  a  third  and  distinct  factor 


Fortieth  Anniversaiy.  153 

in  the  array  of  heterogeneous  elements  combined 
against  true  rehgion.  In  my  Quarter-Century  sermon 
the  hope  was  expressed,  that  the  controversy  forced 
upon  the  other  churches  by  the  Oxford  Tract  party, 
mio-ht  not  be  renewed.  It  was  a  bootless  wish.  The 
Popish  leaven  which  the  imperious  will,  first  of  Henry 
VIII,  and  then  of  Elizabeth,  forbade  the  Reformers  to 
eradicate  from  the  established  church,  has  proven  a 
fatal  legacy  to  the  successors  of  Cranmer  and  Latimer, 
Hooper  and  Ridley,  Bradford  and  Jewell,  in  every 
subsequent  generation.  Now,  as  at  the  Reforma- 
tion, it  miorht  be  said  to  that  church,  "  Two  nations 
are  in  thy  womb,  and  two  manner  of  people  shall  be 
separated  from  thy  bowels  ;  and  the  one  people  shall 
be  stronger  than  the  other  people  ;  and  the  elder 
shall  serve  the  younger."  Not  only  are  these  two 
peoples  as  dissimilar  in  tone,  and  purpose,  and  effort, 
as  were  Jacob  and  Esau  in  their  physical  character- 
istics ;  but  the  younger  have  shown  themselves  strong 
enough  to  conquer  the  elder.  For,  undeniably,  evan- 
gelical Christians  were  the  first  fruits  of  the  British 
Reformation.  The  school  of  Bancroft  and  Laud 
came  afterward.  Their  advent  was  the  signal  of  a 
conflict  which  has  continued  to  this  day,  and  which 
has  palpably  reversed  the  primal  relations  of  the  par- 
ties. The  younger  has  waxed  stronger  and  stronger, 
20 


lo4:  Fortieth  Annivei^sary. 

and  the  elder  has  waxed  weaker  and  weaker ;  and  the 
prospect  just  now  is  not  hopeful  as  to  the  final  result. 
If  this  were  purely  a  domestic  quarrel  we  could  not 
intermeddle  with  it.  But  it  is  much  more.  The 
Ritualists  are  not  content  with  defiling  the  graves  of 
their  own  Reformers.  They  revile  the  very  name  of 
"  Protestant."  Constituting  a  fraction  of  the  very 
smallest  amoncf  the  leadinij  denominations  of  Christ- 
endom,  they  claim  an  exclusive  partnership  with  Rome 
(although  spurned  by  her)  in  the  promises  and  im- 
munities of  the  "  Church  of  the  living  God."  All  other 
churches  are  branded  as  pseudo  churches  ;  all  other 
ministers  as  usurpers  ;  all  other  ordinances  as  invalid. 
This  in  itself  is  simply  ludicrous  ;  it  reminds  one,  as 
the  Princeton  Review  said  some  vears  ago,  of  that 
amusing  way  the  Chinese  have  of  calling  all  other 
nations  "  barbarians."  But  it  has  a  orraver  side. 
These  people  are  substituting  a  sacerdotal  system  for 
the  faith  of  their  and  our  fathers.  They  are  sapping 
and  mining  at  the  very  foundations ;  putting  "  the 
church  "  in  Christ's  place ;  and,  if  not  of  design,  yet 
practically  magnifying  the  externals  of  worship  above 
the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  Although 
numerically  a  small  minority  among  the  professing 
Christians  of  the  land,  they  have  ample  wealth  and 
f9.natical  zeal.     Addressing  themselves  to  that  passion 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  155 

for  a  sensuous  reli":ion  which  is  the  common  inherit- 
ance  of  the  unrenewed  heart,  and  superadcHng  the 
blandishments  of  pomp  and  fashion,  there  is  ground 
to  apprehend  the  worst  from  their  proselyting  efforts, 
especially  in  a  country  abounding  with  families  who 
are  ready  to  adopt  any  creed  or  any  ritual  which  may 
promise  to  introduce  them  into  a  social  sphere  su- 
perior to  their  own.  The  experiment  is  not  novel. 
The  Ritualism  of  which  we  are  speaking  is  nothing 
but  embryonic  or  imperfectly  developed  Romanism: 
"  Popery  without  a  Pope,"  as  Gregory  XVI  wittily 
styled  the  type  of  it  which  was  prevalent  forty  years 
ago.  And  they  who  would  see  whereunto  it  may,  and 
logically  must  grow,  have  only  to  look  at  that  great 
apostacy  of  which  the  long  suffering  nations  of  Europe 
are  just  now  trying  to  rid  themselves.  Humiliating 
it  is  that  Italy,  which  has  long  been  the  chief  depend- 
ence of  our  paper  mills,  should  not  only  send  us  the  raw 
material  of  commerce,  but  find  here  a  ready  demand 
for  her  discarded  ecclesiastical  frippery.  But  so  it  is. 
Our  mimic  Romanists  rightly  judge  that  this  is  their 
appropriate  costume.  What  could  be  more  becoming 
to  a  set  of  earnest  workers  who,  though  contesting 
the  Roman  supremacy,  are  indirectly  and,  if  you  will, 
unconsciously,  toiling  to  bring  back  the  halcyon  days 
of  Leo  X,  and  Cajetan,  and  Tetzel  ? 


156  Fortieth  Annivei'sary . 

In  making  these  remarks,  I  utterly  disclaim  any 
hostility  to  our  sister  church.  Differing  from  the  other 
churches  of  the  Reformation  in  its  government  and 
rites,  it  holds  in  its  Creed  and  Articles,  the  same 
theology.  The  Mother  Church  has  in  past  years 
waged  a  mighty  and  successful  conflict  with  the 
Papacy.  It  has  been  baptized  with  martyr  blood.  It 
has  enriched  the  world  with  very  numerous  examples 
of  a  piety  as  pure,  as  beautiful,  and  as  beneficent,  as 
any  type  of  Christianity  produced  in  any  land  or  under 
any  tutelage  since  the  Apostolic  age.  There  are  at  this 
moment  multitudes  within  its  communion,  on  either  side 
of  the  water,  who  would  adorn  any  branch  of  the  church 
at  home  or  abroad.  And,  if  the  remark  may  be  per- 
mitted, there  are  many  among  its  attached  and  de- 
voted children,  whom  it  is  my  pride  and  pleasure  to 
claim  as  my  esteemed  personal  friends.  But  "they 
are  not  all  Israel,  which  are  of  Israel."  When  men 
array  themselves  against  God's  truth,  and  attempt  to 
subvert  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  a  position 
within  the  church  only  enlarges  their  capacity  for 
mischief,  and  makes  resistance  to  their  devices  a  more 
imperative  duty.  The  evangelical  Christiaiis  of  that 
communion  see  their  all  at  stake  in  this  contest,  and 
other  churches  are  bound  to  make  common  cause 
with  them  against  a  common  adversary. 


Fortieth  Aiuiiversaiy.  157 

The  fourth  ominous  token  alluded  to,  is  the  preva- 
lence of  Idolatry.  It  will  not  be  surprising  if  some 
future  historian,  in  giving  an  account  of  our  condition 
at  the  present  period,  should  say — "  In  respect  to  re- 
ligion, the  population  was  about  equally  divided  be- 
tween worshippers  of  the  true  God  and  worshippers 
of  Mammon."  Would  this  be  a  slander?  Go  to  the 
Courts,  the  Prisons  and  the  Penitentiaries.  Go  to  our 
Stock  Exchanges.  Go  to  Congress  and  the  State 
Legislatures.  Open  your  Journals  and  read  the  daily 
record  of  brutal  crimes,  and  still  more,  of  dishonesties 
of  every  type  and  hue,  and  say  whether  Mammon 
be  not  our  chosen  god.  Say  whether  the  extinction 
of  slavery  and  the  suppression  of  rebellion  can  avail 
to  save  a  country  which  has  this  mercenary  passion 
eating  like  a  cancer  at  the  core  of  all  public  and  all 
private  virtue.  Here  surely  is  an  adversary  meet  for 
our  Christianity  to  grapple  with;  for  nothing  short  of 
a  superhuman  power  can  master  it. 

Taking  the  gauge  of  these  four  characteristics  only, 
it  will  be  conceded,  that  neither  our  own  nor  any 
other  evangelical  church  can  discharge  its  duty  to  the 
country  without  putting  on  the  whole  armor  of  God. 
The  imperative  demand  is  for  a  higher  spirituality  on 
the  part  of  individual  believers,  for  more  earnest 
labors,  and  for  a  closer  union  and  greater  concentra- 


158  For  tie  ih  Anniversary. 

tion  of  purpose  and  methods  among  the  churches. 
To  this  result  things  are  tending.  The  recent  meeting 
of  the  "Evangelical  Alliance"  in  New  York,  the 
most  remarkable  relio^ious  convocation  ever  witnessed 
in  this  hemisphere,  illustrated  the  essential  unity  of 
genuine  Protestanism,  and  gave  presage  of  concerted 
and  efficient  action  for  the  promotion  of  pure  Chris- 
tianity, beyond  anything  the  modern  world  has  yet 
witnessed.  Let. us  thankfully  accept  the  omen  and,  in 
our  several  spheres,  help  forward  this  auspicious 
movement  so  fraught  with  blessing  to  our  own  land 
not  only,  but  to  the  whole  human  race. 

I  find  the  temptation  almost  irresistible,  to  dwell 
upon  other  topics  which  must  crowd  themselves  upon 
any  one  who  sits  down  to  write  of  the  last  forty  years. 
In  many  respects,  the  whole  aspect  of  the  world  is 
chanored.  Our  own  national  domain  has  been  ex- 
tended  to  the  Pacific  coast ;  the  States  have  increased 
from  twenty-four  to  thirty-seven  ;  and  the  population 
from  fourteen  to  forty  millions.  Numerous  unknown 
regions  of  the  globe  have  been  explored.  Persia, 
Japan,  and  large  portions  of  Africa,  have  been  brought 
into  relations  of  commercial  intercourse  with  Christian 
lands.  A  new  atlas  has  become  necessary  even  for 
Europe.  Steam  and  electricity  are  annihilating  time 
and  distance.     Geology  is  rifling  the  solid  earth  of  its 


I 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  159 

secrets.  Astronomy  is  adding  new  planets  to  our 
system,  measurino-  the  distances  of  the  fixed  stars,  and, 
aided  by  chemistry,  resolving  the  mystery  of  light, 
and  boldly  interrogating  the  sun  as  to  his  composition 
and  laws.  Jurisprudence  is  constructing  fresh  safe- 
guards for  constitutional  liberty,  and  adapting  its 
codes  to  the  altered  conditions  of  society.  Medicine 
has  already  augmented  by  several  years  the  average 
duration  of  human  life.  Slavery,  serfdom,  despotism, 
where  they  still  survive,  are  betraying  signs  of  weak- 
ness. The  nations  are  everywhere  sighing  and 
struggling  for  freedom.  Truth  and  error,  right  and 
wrong,  are  keeping  all  Christendom  alive  with  their 
conflicts.  Commerce  and  finance  are  driving  their 
mighty  mechanism  with  a  momentum  unknown  to  the 
fathers — and  just  now  (it  may  be  added),  since  they 
would  scorn  the  lessons  of  experience  and  persist  in 
sowing  the  wind,  reaping,  for  the  fourth  time  since 
' '^1,  the  inevitable  whirlwind.  Amidst  the  universal 
jar  and  tumult,  the  Gospel  of  Christ  halts  not  in  its 
benign  work  ;  goes  forth  on  its  mission  of  love  and 
mercy  through  Protestant  and  Papal,  Mohammedan 
and  Pagan  lands ;  and  ceases  not  to  cry  in  every 
tongue  and  to  every  people,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world !"  What 
wonders  are  accumulated  upon  this  age.     Surely  it  is 


160  Fortieth  Annivei'sary. 

a  greater  privilege  to  live  now,  and  especially  to 
begin  life  now,  than  at  any  former  period  of  the 
world's  history.  My  dear  young  friends,  where  much 
is  given,  much  will  be  required.  Show  yourselves 
worthy  of  your  imperial  birth-right. 

Returning  to  ourselves,  and  drawing  this  too  pro- 
tracted discourse  to  a  close,  all  the  Presbyterian 
Pastors  whom  I  found  here  in  ' ^2)  "^^^  dead  except 
one,  who  long  ago  removed  from  the  city.  Another 
exception  I  am  most  happy  to  make  now,  since  my 
beloved  brother,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chambers,  with  his 
very  prosperous  church,  has  recently  come  back  into 
our  fold — an  honored  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  fulfilling  the  forty-eighth  year  of  a  most 
faithful  and  useful  ministry.  The  only  other  pastors 
whose  installation  antedates  my  own,  are  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Morton,  of  St.  James'  Episcopal  Church,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Furness,  of  the  Unitarian, Church.  Under  the 
Methodist  discipline  frequent  change  of  pastors  is  the 
normal  law.  In  the  other  denominations,  our  own  in- 
cluded, most  of  the  congregations  have  had  a  suc- 
cession of  pastors.  The  necrology  of  Presbyterian 
ministers,  pastors  and  others,  resident  here,  embraces 
names  upon  which  it  were  grateful  to  dwell,  if  the 
occasion  would  permit.  Still  more  would  it  fall  in 
with  my  feelings  could  I  indulge  myself  in   reminis- 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  161 

cences  of  the  dead  of  our  own  church.  It  fills  me 
with  solemn,  meditative  thought,  to  reflect  that  if  we 
could  call  up  from  the  grave  all  who  have  departed 
this  life  since  1841,  (there  is  no  complete  record  be- 
yond that,)  a  congregation  of  seven  hundred  persons 
would  file  in  through  yonder  doors  and  yf// these  pews. 
What  an  assemblage !  Infants  in  arms,  laughing 
children,  young  men  in  their  strength,  and  maidens  in 
their  bloom  and  beauty,  old  men  with  their  crowns  of 
glory,  mothers  in  Israel,  eminent  merchants,  skilled 
artisans,  accomplished  engineers,  gallant  soldiers, 
ripe  scholars,  learned  physicians,  eloquent  advo- 
cates, profound  jurists,  generous  philanthropists,  wise 
and  patient  Christian  teachers,  and  very  many  of 
the  Lord's  poor,  His  choice  and  cherished  jewels. 
How  many  hearts  would  bound  at  the  sight.  How 
many  eyes  would  brim.  What  household  here  would 
not  eagerly  scan  the  up-turned  faces  in  quest  of  the 
"  loved  and  lost " — the  one,  two,  three,  peradventure 
in  some  instances  twice  three,  whom  death  had  torn 
from  their  arms.  "Loved  and  lost^'  did  I  say?  No, 
Beloved,  the  infinite  mercy  of  our  Father  has  ordered 
it  otherwise.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  those  who 
are  gone,  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus.  Not  in  unkind- 
nes5  to  you,  but  in   love   to  them.  He  came  to  take 

21 


162  Fortieth  Anniversary. 

them  to  Himself,  that  the}^  might  be  where  He  is,  and 
see  and  share  His  glory. 

"  Mourners  they  were — they  weep  not  now; 
Sick  -  now  they  know  not  pain  ; 
And  glory  shines  on  every  brow 
Of  that  once  feeljle  train." 

My  heartfelt  sympathy  I  tender  you,  alike  in  your 
sorrow  that  they  are  gone,  and  in  your  joy  that  they 
are  gone  to  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 

These  bereavements  bear  one  aspect  to  me  which 
they  cannot,  except  in  a  very  limited  measure,  present 
to  you.  You  are  immediately  concerned  in  a  few  of 
them.  I  am  concerned  in  them  all.  I  was  their 
Pastor.  They  were  my  people.  Did  I  watch  for 
their  souls  ?  Did  I  kindly  and  faithfully  instruct,  warn, 
comfort,  and  Qruide  them  ?  Did  I  leave  nothino-  un- 
done  which  might  help  to  extricate  them  from  the 
toils  of  sin,  to  establish  them  on  the  sure  foundation, 
to  cheer  them  in  their  work  and  warfare,  and  to  in- 
sure their  final  triumph?  Alas,  dear  friends,  as  this 
question  has  often  thrust  itself  upon  me  while  per- 
forming the  last  rites  for  our  dead,  so  it  comes  upon 
me  with  overwhelming  power  at  this  moment.  I  dare 
not  say,  I  have  done  all  that  I  ought  to  have  done  for 
the  dead.  I  know  that  I  have  not.  One  thing  I  may 
humbly  venture  to  re-affirm,     I  have  for  forty  years 


Fortieth  Anniversary.  163 

preached  the  Gospel  from  this  pulpit.  I  have  set  be- 
fore all  who  worshipped  here,  the  way  of  life  and  the 
way  of  death.  I  have  constantly  invited  and  urged 
you  to  come  to  Christ,  and  I  have  habitually  tried  to 
comfort  the  people  of  God.  For  the  favor  with  which 
these  ministrations  have  been  attended,  I  again  bow 
my  knees  before  God  in  grateful  adoration.  For  the 
sins  and  failures  w^hich  have  deformed  these  services, 
I  again    supplicate   forgiveness. 

What,  then,  Is  the  great  lesson  of  this  Anniversary 
for  you  and  for  me  ?  We  are  all  passing  away.  In 
the  nature  of  things,  I  cannot  expect  my  ministry  to  be 
prolonged  for  many  years.  It  may  terminate  at  any 
moment.  Yes,  and  any  Sabbath  may  see  some  of 
your  seats  vacant.  Are  we  ready  for  the  summons  ? 
Have  we  fled  to  Christ  ?  Are  we  sprinkled  with  His 
blood  ?  Are  we  clothed  with  His  righteousness?  Are 
we  Imbued  with  His  spirit?  Are  our  loins  girded  and 
our  lamps  trimmed,  as  those  who  wait  for  the  coming 
of  their  Lord  ? 

My  dear  people,  bound  to  my  heart  by  so  many 
sacred  ties,  on  that  day  when  the  ransomed  shall  be 
Slathered  at  the  rieht  hand  of  Christ,  I  would  that  not 
one  of  you  should  be  wanting.  And  I  close  up  the 
record  of  these  forty  years  with  the  fervent  prayer  to 
"the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the 


164  l^ortieth  Annwersa7y. 

whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,  that  He 
would  grant  you  according  to  the  riches  of  His  glory  to 
be  strengthened  with  might  by  His  Spirit  in  the  inner 
man;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith; 
that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be 
able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth, 
and  length,  and  depth,  and  height;  and  to  know  the 
love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might 
be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God, 

Now  UNTO  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abun- 
dantly ABOVE  ALL  THAT  WE  ASK  OR  THINK,  ACCORD- 
ING TO  THE  POWER  THAT  WORKETH  IN  US,  UNTO  HiM  BE 
GLORY  IN  THE  CHURCH  BY  ChRIST  JeSUS  THROUGHOUT 
ALL  AGES,  WORLD  WITHOUT  END.       AmEN." 


APPENDIX, 

[See  Preface.) 


I. 

The  Pastor's  health  having  failed  in  the  Spring  of 
1847,  his  Physicians  decided  that  a  year  in  Europe 
was  "indispensable,"  His  resignation  was  immediately 
sent  to  the  congregation.  By  a  unanimous  vote,  they 
not  only  declined  to  accept  it,  but  made  generous 
provision    for    the    supply   of   the   pulpit    during    his 

absence. 

11. 
Proceedings  of  the  congregation  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Pastor's  election,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1853, 
to  a  Professorship  at  Princeton,  (copied  from  one  of  the 
newspapers  of  the  day.) 

PRINCETON  AND  DR.  BOARDMAN. 


Resohitions  adopted  tmanimoiis/y  at  a  Congregational 
Meeting  of  the  Tenth  Presbyterian  Church,  of  Phila- 
delphia,  held  June  7,  18^3. 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  our  Church, 
at  its  recent  meeting  in  this  city,  elected  our  Pastor, 


166  Appendix. 

the  Rev.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.  D.,  to  the  office  of 
Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology  and  Church  Govern- 
ment in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton  ;  and 
whereas,  this  congregation  feel  it  to  be  due  equally 
to  their  Pastor  and  themselves,  and  to  the  venerable 
body  that  has  been  named,  to  give  some  expression 
of  their  views  and  feelings  in  the  matter,  therefore, 

Resolved,  I.  That  we,  as  a  con<^regation,  under  our  present  Pastor,  are  now, 
and  have  always  been,  entirely  united  and  haiTnonious;  that  we  have  been 
greatly  blessed  and  prospered  under  his  ministry  ;  that  we  entertain  for  him  the 
most  cordial  love,  and  the  most  unbounded  confidence ;  that  his  separation  from 
us  would  be  the  sundering  of  ties  which  are  of  longer  growth  than  those  which, 
ill  a  majority  of  cases,  bind  together  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  chdd,  brother 
and  sister;  and  that  we  cannot  contemplate  such  a  separation  without  a  feeling 
of  bereavement  akin  to  that  which  marks  the  dissolution  of  any  of  those  strongest 
and  tenderest  of  the  ties  of  human  affection. 

Resolved,  2.  That,  much  as  we  love  Dr.  Boardman,  and  deeply  as  we  should 
feel  and  deplore  his  loss,  yet  it  is  not  this  consideration  mainly  which  moves  us 
to  the  belief  that  duty  does  not  call  him  to  the  relinquishment  of  his  present 
pascoral  office ;  that  Dr.  Boardman,  by  his  commanding  talents  as  a  preacher  and 
writer,  and  by  other  eminent  qualities,  equally  rare  and  peculiar,  is,  m  our 
opinion,  fitted,  as  few  men  are,  for  the  office  of  a  prominent  city  pastor;  and 
that,  by  the  consistent  and  conspicuous  use  of  these  high  qualities,  during  a 
period  of  twenty  years,  he  has  acquired  a  wide-spread  and  most  important  in- 
fluence, not  only  among  his  own  congregation  and  throughout  ttie  entire  Presby- 
terian community,  but  among  other  denominations,  and  especially  among  pro- 
fessional gentlemen,  lawyers,  physicians,  merchants,  men  of  literary  and  scientific 
pursuits,  and  generally  among  those  whose  views  and  characters  contribute 
materially  to  shape  the  views  and  characters  of  the  community. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  importance  of  such  a  man,  in  such  a  post,  is,  in  our 
opinion,  greatly  underrated  by  those  who  would  take  Dr.  Boardman  from  us  ; 


Appendix.  1G7 


that  much  as  we  vakie  and  love  the  Princeton  Seminary,  we  think  the  vacancy 
there  existing,  even  if  continued  for  another  twelvemonth,  would  be  less  dis- 
astrous to  the  cause  of  religion  at  large,  than  would  be  the  removal  of  Dr. 
Boardman  from  Philadelphia ;  that  the  true  issue,  in  this  case,  is  not  between  the 
Princeton  Seminary  and  one  isolated  congregation,  but  between  that  Seminaiy  and 
the  cause  of  Christ,  already  greatly  weakened,  in  a  great  commercial  metrojjolis 
numbering  nearly  half  a  million  of  souls;  that  while  Princeton  has  such  men  as 
those  pre-eminently  able  divines  who  now  fill  its  leading  chairs,  no  vacancy  could 
be  so  felt  as  would  be  the  loss  of  Dr.  Boaidman  to  this  great  and  growing  city. 

Resolved,  4.  That  the  personal  and  commanding  influence  among  all  classes 
in  the  community,  which  Dr.  Boardman  has  acquired  during  his  long  continu- 
ance in  his  present  charge,  would  be  entirely  lost  to  the  cause  of  Christ  by  his 
removal ;  that  the  leaving  of  his  present  charge  for  the  one  tendered  to  him  at 
Princeton,  is  quitting  a  field  of  great  and  certain  usefulness  for  one  that  is  at 
least  untried,  and  that  would  certainly  bring,  upon  a  constitution  already  im- 
paired by  labor,  the  burden  for  active  preparation  for  new  and  exhausting 
duties  requiring  full  health  and  unbroken  energies. 

Resolved,  5.  That  the  influence  of  Dr.  Boardman  in  awakening  young  men 
to  a  sense  of  their  duty  in  reference  to  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  has  been 
extensively  blessed  by  the  Great  Head  of  the  church  ;  that,  in  our  opinion,  he 
does  render,  and  may  continue  to  render  as  essential  service  to  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion in  his  position  as  pastor  of  a  large  metropolitan  congregation,  as  in  any 
other  in  which  he  could  be  placed ;  and  that  this  consideration  is  entitled  to  the 
greater  importance  when  we  consider  how  few  cmdidates  for  the  ministry  are 
now  coming  forward  in  any  of  our  churches. 

Resolved,  6.  That  in  addition  to  the  considerations  which  have  been  already 
presented,  there  are  others  likewise  of  a  general  nature,  and  worthy  of  grave 
consideration,  though  connected  wiih  the  movements  of  this  particular  congre- 
gation ;  that,  under  the  promptings,  and  in  accordance  with  the  well-known  and 
earnest  wishes  of  our  Pastor,  we,  as  a  congregation,  have  entered  upon  a  plan  for 
forming  a  new  church  and  congregation  in  the  midst  of  a  most  influential  and 
wealthy  population  in  the  southwestern  part  of  our  city;  that  this  plan,  now 
nearly  matured,  and  about  to  be  consummated  by  the  erection  of  a  suitable  church 


1G8  Appendix. 

edifice  with  ample  accommodations,  is,  in  the  providence  of  God,  so  connected 
with  the  personal  ministrations  of  Dr.  Boardman,  that  his  removal  will  entirely 
undo  what  has  been  already  done,  and  will,  in  fact,  extinguish  that  important 
prospective  church ;  and  that,  furthermore,  the  failure  of  this  enterprise  will  have 
the  effect  to  retard,  in  other  respects,  the  great  cause  of  church  extension,  now  so 
auspiciously  begun  in  this  city. 

Resolved,  7.  That  while,  as  personal  friends  of  our  beloved  and  venerated 
Pastor,  we  cannot  be  insensible  to  the  high  honor  which  has  been  paid  him  by 
the  General  Assembly,  in  selecting  him  to  this  important  Professorship,  we  do  yet 
earnestly  entreat  him  to  take  into  serious  consideration  the  facts  and  arguments 
which  have  been  now  presented ;  nor  are  we  without  a  confident  hope  that  he 
will  see  his  way  clear  to  continue  the  relations  which  he  has  so  long,  so  honorably, 
and  so  usefully  held  among  us ;  that  such  an  issue  to  the  present  crisis  would  be 
received  by  us  as  a  signal  token  of  the  Divine  favor;  and  that  we  would  thereby 
feel  distinctly  called  upon,  as  a  memorial  of  God's  goodness,  to  engage  with  re- 
newed zeal  in  the  important  Christian  enterprise  already  named. 

Resolved,  8.  That  a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  Pastor,  to 
urge  upon  his  consideration  the  views  of  the  congregation,  as  contained  in  these 
resolutions,  and  as  otherwise  expressed  at  this  meeting. 

III. 

Letter  of   Citizens  of   Philadelphia,  referred  to  on 
page  42  of  this  volume. 

Philadelphia,  June  8th,  iS^j. 
To  THE  Rev.  Hexrv  A.  Boardman,  D.  D. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir: — 
Although  not  members  of  your  congregation,  and 
some  of  us  not  having  the  honor  of  your  personal  ac- 
quaintance, we  have  ventured  to  address  you   in  re- 
gard to  the   recent  action  of  the  General  Assembly 


Appendix.  169 

of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  inviting  you  to  the  chair 
of  Pastoral  Theology  and  Church  Government,  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton. 

As  civilians,  and  belonging,  many  of  us,  to  other 
communions  than  your  own,  it  would  ill  become  us  to 
say  anything  on  the  question,  as  it  lies  between  you 
and  the  Theological  Seminary  just  named.  That  In- 
stitution, no  doubt  has  strong  claims  upon  your  con- 
sideration, and  we  are  not  surprised  that  the  vener- 
able body  who  have  the  control  of  its  appointments, 
should  have  had  their  attendon  directed  as  it  has  been, 
in  seeking  to  supply  the  vacant  professorship.  But, 
as  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  and  interested  in  whatever 
concerns  its  general  welfare,  we  desire  to  have  a  hear- 
ing. In  common  with  our  fellow-citizens,  we  have 
seen  with  no  little  satisfaction  the  weight  of  influence, 
which,  as  a  Christian  pastor,  you  have  gradually  ac- 
quired among  various  important  classes,  not  often 
brought  within  the  sphere  of  religious  teachings — the 
happy  manner  in  which  you  have  connected  the  claims 
of  Christianity  with  the  highest  intellectual  and  social 
culture,  making  it  thereby  attractive  to  gentlemen  of 
education  and  refinement,  without  at  all  derogating 
from  its  divine  character  and  authority — the  clearness 
and  emphasis  with  which,  at  different  times,  you  have 
set    forth    the    social    and    relative    duties    of    those 

22 


170  Appendix. 

engaged  fn  the  various  learned  Professions,  as  well  as 
of  merchants  and  others  employed  in  the  pursuits  of 
commerce.  We  have  learned  to  recognize  in  you, 
not  merely  the  pastor  of  a  single  congregation,  but 
the  dignified  expounder  of  commercial  and  professional 
morals,  whose  teachings  and  whose  personal  character 
are  of  public  importance.  We  feel  that  your  de- 
parture from  Philadelphia  would  be  a  loss  not  easily 
repaired,  to  the  public  Christianity  of  a  great  com- 
mercial metropolis.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  have 
presumed  to  address  you  on  the  question  now  await- 
ing your  decision,  and  ver)'  respectfully  to  say,  that, 
as  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  we  are  interested  in  the 
result. 

Your  most  obedient  servants, 

Horace.  BiNNEY, 
George  M.  Dallas, 
Charles  J.  Ingersoll, 
WiLLL\M  M.  Meredith, 
James  Duxdas, 
Garrick  Mallery, 
Joel  Jones, 
Charles  Gilpin, 
P.  McCall, 
Thomas  Biddle, 
Roblev  Dunglison,  M.  D., 


Appendix.  171 


Morton  Mc Michael, 

Robert  M.  Bird, 

Samuel  V.  Merrick, 

Thomas  I.  Wharton, 

A.  L.  Elwyn,   M.  D., 

William  H.  Allen, 

Oswald  Thompson, 

St.  George  Tucker  Campbell, 

Henry  McMurtrie,  M.  D., 

William  B.  Reed, 

Samuel  F.  Smith, 

Henry  M.  Watts, 

John  Tucker, 

John  Richardson, 

William  Duane, 

Charles  Macalester, 

Thomas  D.  Mutter,  M.  D., 

John  Cadwalader, 

Richard  S.  Smith, 

Lawrence  Lewis, 

J.  R.  Tyson, 

Henry  J.  Williams, 

Henry  Vethake, 

Joseph  Pancoast,  M.  D., 

Charles  Gibbons, 

Samuel  Breck, 


1 72  Appendix. 

Caleb  Cope, 
James  Markoe, 
William  A.  Blanchard, 
John  Grigg, 
Stephen  Colwell, 
Charles  Ingersoll^ 
George  Cadwalader, 
Francis  N.  Buck, 
J.  J.  Vanderkemp, 
William  D.  Lewis,, 
William  Heyward  Drayton, 
H.  Pratt  McKean, 
Benjamin  Kugler,  M.  D., 
M.  Russell  Thayer, 
D.  Haddock,  Jr., 
William  Vogdes, 
John  C.  Mitchell, 
Joshua  Lippincott, 
Edwin  M.  Lewis, 
Frederick  Brown, 
Thomas  Earp, 
John  K.  Mitchell,  M.  D., 
John  Haseltine, 
Charles  E.  Lex, 
John  S.  Riddle, 
Samuel  Allen, 


Appendix.  173 

John  Sparhawk, 
R.  E.  Rogers,  M.  D., 
Matthew  Newkirk, 
Francis  Wharton, 
S.  R.  Warrington, 
John  H.  Campbell, 
Thomas  Fletcher, 
Benjamin  B.  Reath, 
Thomas  Reath, 
G.  M.  Troutman, 

J.    B.    LiPPINCOTT, 

Daniel  Smith,  Jr., 

A.  V.  Parsons, 

Thomas  L.  Bell, 

Joseph  Patterson, 

Thomas  Smith, 

David  Reeves, 

Albert  G.  Waterman, 

John  Sibley, 

Augustus  Heaton, 

E.  Otis  Kendall,  * 

James  H.  Orne, 

J.  M.  Tyler, 

Samuel  Wright, 

John  C.  Weber, 

Isaac  Elliott, 


1 74  Appendix. 


John  R.  Bakek, 

John  B.    ■Myers, 

James  L.  Claghorn, 

Stephen  H.  Brooke, 

B.  T.  Pratt, 

Albert  Molton, 

William  G.  Billin, 

TnoiLvs  G.  Hollingsworth, 

Archibald  McIntyre, 

Jonathan   Patterson, 

Edward  D.  Woodruff, 

George  Philler, 

George  W.  Biddle, 

John  W.  Ash  me  ad, 

A.  J.  Lewis, 

Arthur  G.  Coffin, 

Joseph  A.  Clay, 

Sat^iuel  Jackson,  M.  D., 

James  Bayard, 

Isaac  Hazlehurst, 

John  Fausset, 

Francis  Hoskins, 

S.  B.  Barcroft, 

THo^L\s  Beayer, 

James  Page, 

J.  Carson,  M.  D. 


Appendix.  175 

IV. 

The  Pastor's  resignation,  in  October,  1871,  (from  a 
published  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  congre- 
gation.) 

REV.  DR.  BOARDMAN. 


A  congregational  meeting  of  the  Tenth  Presbyterian 
Church,  Philadelphia,  was  held  on  the  loth  of  October, 
instant,  [1871]  to  consider  the  resignation  of  the 
Pastor,  Rev.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.  D. 

After  the  reading  of  a  letter  from  the  Pastor,  it  was, 
on  motion  of  the  Hon.  J.  K,  Findlay,  unanimously  re- 
solved that  the  following  minute  should  be  entered 
on  the  records  of  the  church  ; 

1.  The  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Boardman  over  this  Church  has  existed  for 
more  than  thirty-eight  years.  In  that  time  the  uniform  purity  of  his  Hfe,  the 
wisdom  and  discretion  which  have  m.irked  his  intercourse  with  us,  the  gene- 
rosity and  kindness  of  his  heart,  and  the  tender  sympathy  which  he  has  ex- 
hibited in  our  seasons  of  sickness  and  sorrow,  have  bound  us  to  him  in  hontis  of 
affection,  whose  strength  it  is  beheved  has  rarely  been  equalled,  and  never  sur- 
passed, in  the  case  of  any  pastor  and  his  people. 

2.  In  the  public  ministrations  of  the  sanctuary,  his  correct  taste,  his  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God,  his  large  acquaintance  with  the  human  heart, 
his  powerful  reasoning  and  his  persuasive  eloquence  in  presenting  the  truths  of 
religion,  have  combined  to  render  him  one  of  the  great  ornaments  of  the  Ameri- 
can pulpit. 

3.  The  last  previous  occasion  on  which  the  continuance  of  his  pastorale  came 
iiefore  his  congregation  was  in  the  year  1853.     After  he  had  declined  calls  from 


176  Appendix. 

some  of  our  most  important  churches,  and  refused  invitations  to  preside  over 
several  distinguished  literaiy  institutions,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  elected  him,  against  his  will,  one  of  the  Professors  in  the  Seminary 
at  Princeton.  Thereupon,  this  congregation,  its  Session  and  Trustees,  rose  up 
with  united  energy,  and  presented  their  protest  against  his  removal.  The 
Governor  of  the  State,  in  a  written  communication,  seconded  their  opposition. 
The  leading  members  of  the  bar  and  business  men  of  the  city  also  presented  to 
the  public  their  remonstrance,  so  that  it  became  impracticable  to  carry  out  the 
resolution  of  the  Assembly. 

4.  For  more  than  fifteen  years  longer  he  discharged,  without  interruption,  the 
duties  of  his  great  office.  On  the  6th  of  January,  1868,  he  preached  discourses 
which  it  was  believed  he  had  never  surpassed.  On  that  night  he  was  stricken 
with  disease,  and  for  several  months  the  issue  was  doul)tful,  until,  by  God's  good 
providence,  he  came  out  of  the  trial  with  his  great  faculties  wholly  unimpaired. 
During  this  conflict  he  was  watched  by  his  people  with  the  affectionate  solicitude 
which  more  resembled  that  of  children  for  a  parent,  than  of  a  people  for  their 
pastor. 

After  the  adoption  of  these  resolutions,  addresses 
were  made  by  various  gentlemen,  and  the  congre- 
gation then,  with  great  cordiality,  again  refused  to 
accept  the  Pastor's  resignation. 


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